Meeting in the Middle
by GlassCase
Summary: What if Goku and Chichi never met as children, but instead as adults trying to discover their own path in life? On a journey around the world they learn together the difference between friendship and love. Post DB Pre DBZ.
1. The Middle

AN: Welcome to my first Goku/ChiChi fic. I've grown really attached to this pair in particular while re-watching the DB series. I watched it as a kid, but doing it again (getting hyped for the new series) has made me appreciate the characters in different ways. I'm still trying to figure out why these two are my favorite because I love all the couples, but I guess I love the comfy/fluffy feeling they give off. Anyway, hope you enjoy the read and leave a review if you can, anything especially constructive criticism would be most appreciated! Thank you!

 _Summary:_ _What if Goku and Chichi never met as children, but instead as adults trying to discover their own path in life? On a journey around the world they learn together the difference between friendship and love. Post DB Pre DBZ. AUish, Fluff w/ Sexual content. Rating may change in the future._

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 _Meeting in the Middle_

 _Chapter 1_

It was the perfect morning to start anew. The sun was just peaking over the horizon of Fire Mountain where Chichi had grown up and lived for the 18 years of her life. The young woman set her bag down beside her and tied her ebony hair in a low ponytail. She didn't realize her long hair might be a burden while traveling, but she supposed this was all a learning experience. Picking up her bag again she looked back at her village not too far in the distance.

Just this morning she had set off on her own for the first time in her life. Telling her father she wanted to lead her own path was one of the most difficult things she had ever done, only because he was such dotting and caring man. As she was growing up Chichi heard stories of her father and even in history books his name was paved in bloodshed, but since the queen had died Chichi was all he had left. He became the gentle giant Chichi had always known and he did this not only to be a better father in her mother's memory, but so she could take his place and rule a peaceful kingdom.

Chichi wasn't sure if she was ever really cut out to be a princess or a queen for that matter. She may have been a bit of a crybaby as a child, but she was also a tomboy who learned and mastered her father's martial art techniques. She wasn't the type to have others waiting on her hand and foot or even have the best of manners. Instead whenever she left with her father into the city on the rare occasions she was told she had a hick accent, was a bit rough around the edges for such a petite girl, and little too self-reliant.

She wanted to make her father happy because he had done the best he could for her, but at the same time she wanted to understand the world beyond Fire Mountain. Sure she had visited places, but it was always with someone to look out for her wellbeing. Chichi needed freedom and exploring the world was the only way she felt she could possess that.

It was a difficult to confront the Ox King, but he had conceded as long she stayed in touch on a regular basis and come back home within the year. Chichi knew she could've simply just left without her father's blessing, but it felt comforting to have it even if she wasn't completely sure she'd be done exploring within the year, but that was for future her to worry about.

She set out on the only path just outside of the village and smiled to herself finally feeling a sense of independence for the first time in her life. Chichi was very familiar with her surroundings so far as the forests around the village were always a place of exploration for her.

"Where should I go first, though? Heading straight towards the ocean might be fun…"

Taking out a map from her bag she looked at the nearby locations and frowned, "I've been to all these villages," her eyes scanned the map further until they caught something close by and unfamiliar, "Mount Paozu? I feel like I've heard of it from somewhere." Trying to recollect but failing to do so left Chichi frustrated, but also an undeniable interest to see if this eerie memory would come back to her.

Heading into the thicker parts of the forests always made Chichi nervous when she was younger and even now as a young woman her eyes scanned every inch of the forest.

"I can't be this scared, it hasn't even been two hours since I've left home!" She chided herself and tried to forget her nerves.

It wasn't that her fear was totally unfounded, many wild beasts and dinosaurs lived in the forests and none of them took a liking to humans. Of course Chichi had sparred with men much larger than her over the years, but animals were different case altogether. The thickness of the forest hid away much of the sunlight and warmth Chichi was accustomed to and she felt a chill go down her spine. "Nothing's following me, it's just my dumb imagination," she chanted to herself quietly as the path began to pitter out into nothing, but dense trees and bushes.

The feeling of being followed was becoming more and more apparent the further she went until finally a low growl came from behind her. Chichi felt her heart stop suddenly as she slowly turned around to face her stalker only to come face to face with a newly born saber-tooth tiger. Dropping to her knees out of pure relief she looked at the kitten exasperatedly.

"You really gave me a scare there, you know?" She sighed and picked herself up as the kitten bounced towards her playfully. Laughing she decided it'd be safe to pet the small creature for a little while, "Well you are a cute little thing aren't you?" She said petting its soft fur. "Though I wonder if your parents are anywhere around." Suddenly the dark haired woman felt that foreboding chill creeping over her all over again. Of course this cub was harmless, but surely it had a mother looking for it probably angry…and hungry.

Distancing herself a bit from the small animal Chichi took in her surroundings again. It was quiet in all directions and while that should have comforted the young woman she couldn't help but feel it was too quiet.

Suddenly she felt something coming from behind and barely dodged it as she rolled out of the way. Coming back up again to face her opponent Chichi was shocked to see a man about a head taller than her not counting his gravity defying black hair wearing a bright orange gi.

He gave her a dark look, but his open stance showed he wasn't challenging her to fight, "you weren't planning on taking that cub away were you?" He asked angrily.

Chichi stepped back unsteadily, "Of course not it was just following me around!" She yelled back trying to establish her composure. The stranger's stare had definitely unnerved her, but at the same time she felt a familiarity she couldn't quite place.

The man's demeanor quickly relaxed as he went to pick up the animal, "That's a relief 'cause his mom's been looking everywhere for him!" He turned to her and smiled briefly while holding the cub in his muscular arms.

She stood dumbfounded. His smile changed his rugged exterior into a boyish friendliness that Chichi instantly recognized. How she couldn't tell it was him before shocked her, but she supposed out of all the times she's seen this man he was always sporting his signature smile.

"Are you…Son Goku?" She asked hesitantly.

He looked up from the cub and cocked his head to the side, "Yup that's me, never met you before you though." He said as his brows furrowed in confusion.

Her eye widened in amazement. Son Goku, the winner of The World Martial Arts Tournament and savior of the Earth was standing right in front of her! She could hardly believe her eyes and he was so much more handsome up close she thought with a slight blush.

Stepping forward Chichi tried to put on her best smile. "My name's Chichi, I've seen you fight in the World Martial Arts Tournament. You're actually a huge inspiration to me and I want to say thank you for saving the Earth!" She bowed lowly and rose up to see Goku scratching the back of his head with the same childlike smile.

"You saw me at the tournament? Were you fighting in it?" He asked with excitement. Chichi stared at him oddly. He didn't seem to care at all about anything else she said, not even a 'your welcome.'

She huffed a bit at his blatantness, but chalked it up to him probably getting sick of being recognized and thanked all the time. "I- no, I wasn't in the tournament this year, I just watched it on TV. I wanted to wait, but I guess since the arena and everything around it was destroyed that won't be happening any time soon."

The black-haired man nodded almost sadly, "Yeah that announcer guy gave me my prize money and told me not to come back for awhile." He looked at her thoughtfully and then grinned brightly, "So that means you can fight, huh? Do you wanna spar with me?"

Chichi could hardly believe what she was hearing. The world's greatest fighter wanted a match with her? Of course she was honored, but knew it wouldn't be a fair fight by a long shot. She saw what he could do when he wasn't even trying and the television broadcast had lost transmission during the real fight with Ma Junior before it had gotten serious. Chichi could only guess what she saw from Goku at the last tournament wasn't even half his power.

Chichi giggled a bit at the thought of being in a serious fight with this man, "I'm not sure I'd be a worthwhile opponent for you. Though I'm very proud to carry on my father's teachings, maybe I can show you some techniques for fun."

Goku's face brightened at that. "You think fighting's fun too? Bulma says I got a one-track mind and no else thinks the way I do about fighting."

Bulma? Maybe a friend? A girlfriend? Chichi frowned at herself, not like it mattered to her. "Well. I've been taught it all my life. I guess I think about it a lot too." Probably not as much as him, but it was only a white lie to get him to smile at her more.

"Yeah we can both teach each other stuff!" He then looked down at the animal with determination, "But later. I gotta give this cub back to its mom. I've been following her around for awhile and she's been looking for him all morning."

Chichi stared in silent awe as Goku looked up to sky and called out something. An instant later a yellow puffy cloud raced down and hovered between the two. He smiled at her briefly before climbing on it.

The young woman jumped back in fear, "What is that thing?!"

Goku looked down at the yellow cloud under his feet and merely shrugged, "This is my friend Flying Nimbus."

' _Ok so he's friends with a cloud and he thinks that's normal?!'_ Chichi thought trying to wrap her mind around the strangeness of it all.

"Well I gotta go. See you around Chichi." He waved as the cloud started to ascend.

Getting her nerve back Chichi reached her hand up to him, "Goku hold on!"

He stopped and hovered down closer to her. His dark eyes staring at her wide and in wonder. If it wasn't for his childlike demeanor Chichi might of felt intimidated by his open stares and closeness.

"I…I just wanted to say I'm traveling around the world so I won't be staying in this forest. I'm not sure how we could meet up later." She said trying not to break the unending eye contact.

Goku didn't seemed fazed by her flustered appearance and grinned at her, "Are you journeying to become a better fighter? I did that when I was younger to get ready for the tournament!"

She faltered a bit at that. It seemed everything really did revolve around fighting with him. "Err well maybe? The first place I'm going to is Mount Paozu, I thought it would be good to start there."

The young man's eyes widened and his smile grew. "That's where I live! I've lived in Mount Paozu all my life."

Chichi couldn't believe her luck. First day and she runs into the greatest fighter on Earth and now this happened. It all seemed too good to be true. "R-really? That's amazing!"

"Yeah I guess so. Me and my grandpa were the only people living there for years. Do you know anyone there?" Goku asked genuinely curiously.

"Well no. But it sounds familiar to me. I know that's not much to go off of, but I had a good feeling about it" She looked at him expectedly only to receive a blank stare. "Since you live there and everything could you take me with you?" She asked with slight embarrassment. Was it considered cheating if she got a ride to her destination on her first day exploring?

Goku pondered her request and looked down at the now sleeping cub in his arms. "Well the only way you can come with me is if you can get on Nimbus." He peered up at the young woman carefully, "only people with pure hearts can ride it. Besides me Nimbus has only let a few people on."

Chichi frowned at the man's piercing gaze. ' _Pure heart? What's that supposed mean and why is he testing me all of a sudden? Haven't I already proven to be a good person?'_ She thought angrily.

"So what? If your cloud doesn't like me you won't help me get to Mount Paozu?" She asked, temper flaring.

Goku's blank stare broke into a short laugh, "You remind me of Bulma. She get's mad at me too."

Chichi huffed at him ignoring her question and bringing up that girl again. "I don't who this Bulma is, but if she's around you a lot I can see why."

They stared at each other silently, Goku with his signature smile and Chichi with her determined frown.

After a moment she stepped forward and reach her hand up to him. "Help me up." She demanded. She wasn't sure what a pure heart meant, but she knew she was good person deep down, sure she had a temper and an attitude when she didn't get her way, but she always had good intentions and if that wasn't good enough for this cloud then so be it.

Goku grabbed her hand and easily hoisted her up onto the puffy cloud. When she didn't immediately fall through Chichi smiled in triumph. "It likes me!" She shouted waking up the cub.

The man next to her beamed down at the cloud, "Nimbus is never wrong. You are a good person!" He said turning to her.

Chichi smiled back at Goku, but nervously averted her gaze. He really was too handsome, especially when he was looking at her with a carefree expression.

Goku shrugged at her odd behavior and directed Nimbus to the sky. Chichi cried out as she almost fell at the unexpected speed. "Goku slow down!" She yelled involuntarily grabbing Goku's bicep.

He looked back at her in confusion and lightly pulled away. "Why are you grabbing me?"

Chichi blushed heavily, but never let go as she glared up at him, "I could've fallen Goku! I need to hold onto something. This" she said gesturing to her hands tightly grasping his arm, "means nothing, okay?"

He scrunched his nose in bewilderment, "What means nothing?"

Chichi stared at him in disbelief, but shook her head, "Nothing, never mind. Just let me hold on to you." She said pressing herself closer to his side as she looked down to see them hovering high above the trees.

She'd never been this high before and never thought she would be. Hell she never thought she'd be on top of a judgmental cloud holding on to a handsome clueless stranger for dear life.

Chichi sighed quietly to herself. Her first day was prepping up to be indescribably strange, but as she peered up at Goku with his gentle smile she didn't regret her decision to follow him, not for a moment.

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A/N: So I took some writing liberties by making Fire Mountain closer to Mount Paozu, which isn't a big deal or anything I hope. Also of course since Chichi and Goku never met as children I'm just going to erase the fact that Fire Mountain needed Master Roshi to put out the fire. That's about it for making it a bit AU.

Next chapter I might switch it up a bit and show Goku's thoughts. Hope you like it and tell me your thoughts!


	2. Hunger

A/N: Wow thank you so much for all the support you guys! I'm shocked by all the positive feedback and great advice I've been given in advancing the story. You all have been so helpful and your encouragement has been a big part of the motivation for this new chapter. I hope you enjoy and if you would like to give any more feedback or advice I'm open to anything. Thanks for reading!

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 _Meeting in the Middle_

 _Chapter 2: Hunger_

It was a little more than strange that Goku was able to easily track down the mother tiger as he hopped off his cloud and gently placed the cub on the forest floor. Chichi peered down to see the older animal instantly find her young and growl uneasily at the strange man.

He stood there unafraid of the wild beast and merrily waved at it before jumping back up onto Nimbus. Looking at the scene both humans could see the mother and child happily reunited.

"That was a nice thing you did." Chichi said offhandedly as Goku directed Nimbus towards Mount Paozu.

The martial artist looked back at her puzzled. "It was? Wouldn't anybody have done that?"

The young woman didn't know whether to laugh or sigh at Goku's innocence. She couldn't wrap her mind around how good natured but also sheltered he was from the world. Didn't he know how cruel it could be when he fought King Piccolo to save the Earth? Or even when he went traveling when he was younger?

She wanted, no she needed to know more about this strange man. Though if she could say one thing about his childlike demeanor was that she almost felt a bit envious of Goku for his simple outlook on life. The more she thought of her life in comparison to Goku's the more she felt that stinging envy rearing its ugly head. Why is that he could venture out and make friends with soaring clouds while she had been stuck in one place for the last eighteen years? Chichi tried to push the thoughts aside and think positively, _'at least I'm here now, and Goku is an incredibly sweet person its wrong of me to think that way.'_

Clinging to him seemed far less awkward as they rode through the sky at what Chichi assumed was its fastest speed. Goku also didn't seem to mind her pressing herself closer whenever they went higher in the clouds to avoid heavy wind, though he did look at her curiously a few times.

' _Maybe I am making him uncomfortable. I mean his arm is practically between my breasts!'_ She tried to dispel the thought and loosen her grip a touch before he said anything.

About ten minutes later Chichi grew bored of the endless desert below and decided then would be a good time to learn about the strongest man on Earth.

"Goku, can you tell me about yourself?" She asked shaking his arm to get his full attention.

He turned his neck to look back at her and shrugged. "Me? There's not too much. I like to eat, everyone says I eat way more than a normal person. I also like fighting, not to hurt people, but to become stronger."

Chichi blinked in wonder, "How can you become stronger now? I mean you are the strongest man on Earth, isn't there a limit?"

Goku was silent and lost in thought for a moment before smiling widely at the young woman clinging to his arm. "Why corner yourself to limits? To me nothings impossible."

The onyx-eyed woman shook her head at his naivety. How could he be stronger when there was no one to challenge him? Sure he could train on his own, but there'd always be a limit to how much he could grow in power. She couldn't see it happening any other way and it seemed he was setting himself up for failure.

"Besides" he started, bringing Chichi out her thoughts, "I don't know what I'd do without that goal. Since I left home all I've been doing is training to be stronger."

He smiled at her, but it didn't feel earnest to the princess.

She sensed that his purpose in life after defeating Ma Junior was now fulfilled, he was stronger than his greatest adversary and now he didn't know what to do but throw himself into sparring matches with random fighters, one of them being Chichi when she introduced herself. She could only reason that his melancholy nature was something he hid away or wasn't even aware of.

"Goku" She called his attention again trying to brighten the mood, "what kind of adventures did you go on as a kid?"

Staring ahead Goku's sadness faded in an instant as he beamed innocently up at the sky looking as if he was recalling something. "There's a lot to tell!"

She giggled and hit his arm gently. "Well don't keep me waiting I want to know everything!"

Before the man could answer a strange gurgling noise interrupted him. Both looked down at Goku's stomach and he grabbed it with a groan. "Ugh. I guess I'm really hungry." His voice and body drooped as if his strength had been sapped away.

Chichi felt herself being dragged down until they were both sitting on the cloud rather uncomfortably with her pressed completely on his back. "You can't be that hungry, you were fine a second ago!" She yelled flabbergasted. The strongest man on the Earth couldn't handle a few hunger pains?

Goku shook his head, still cradling his protesting stomach. "When I'm hungry I feel weak. I could really go for a fish right now or maybe a whole dinosaur."

Chichi sighed in resignation; it was almost like dealing with a child rather than a full-grown man. "How much farther do we have?"

Gazing towards their destination Goku guessed about a few more minutes while groaning.

"Well I can cook pretty well. I brought a capsule with some pots and pans, so if you can catch a fish or whatever I can cook us dinner." She offered casually. It seemed to do the trick as Goku's smile came back and he stood up cheerily.

"You heard that Nimbus? Hurry up!" He called down to his puffy friend who obliged as they soared even faster.

Chichi held on to his calf for dear life as they took a nose drive towards the ground. She screeched Goku's name all the way down, but he was too preoccupied with thoughts on dinner to console her.

"We're here!" He shouted as the cloud made an abrupt stop.

Body shaking, Chichi quickly crawled off and hugged the ground.

Goku chuckled through his nose as stared down at her, "whatcha doing? Now's not time for a nap!"

She huffed in response and laid down with her face in the soft grass. "Don't you have a fish to catch or something?" She grumbled.

That quickly got his attention as Goku left in an instant barreling down the hill to god knows where as Chichi tried to compose herself yet again. Sitting up she took in her surroundings and noticed a fairly old hut in the middle of the clearing. Besides the hut the location looked uninhabitable for humans with a thick forest encircling it on all areas.

"This place looks almost untouched by anyone. Why did I think I heard of it before?" She murmured to herself.

Reaching into her bag Chichi pulled out her capsule container filled with only the essential items. She immediately began to regret not bringing more supplies or even a capsule home instead of roughing it with a tent and sleeping bag.

She opened the capsule with cooking supplies and set to work preparing for whatever Goku brought for them to eat. Mere minutes later she could hear him stomping back from the forest.

Turning to see what he caught Chichi hardly knew where to look first as her jaw hung open in shock. Not only was the fish he caught twice his size, but he abandoned his orange and blue gi and now stood there half naked in a small pair of boxers.

Chichi squeaked and shielded her eyes from the glorious view of protruding pectorals as well as other…protruding appendages. "Goku! You can't just walk up to me undressed like that!" Having fought men over the years Chichi was fairly used to seeing some muscular naked skin, especially the fools who tried to intimidate or impress her, but in those situations she always had her mind on the fight and nothing else, but here in the middle of the woods with her guard down and with a complete stranger it felt different in a way she didn't want to think about.

Putting down the overgrown fish Goku inspected his lack of wear with an alert, but clueless expression. "What's wrong? Krillin and Bulma told me I was okay as long as I didn't show my-"

"Stop!" Chichi screamed, interrupting him. Her face bloomed into a dark shade of red as her eyes tried to stay solely fixed on the young man's perplexed face. "I don't know who those people are, but you can't walk around half-naked with someone you barely know!"

Goku scratched the back of his head thoughtfully. "Well I've known Krillin and Bulma since I was a kid so that's probably why it's okay to be around them like this." Looking down at Chichi he gave her an apologetic smile, "Sorry, I'm not so good with social stuff or at least that's what all my friends say, especially with girls."

Chichi stared dumbfounded at Goku as his sincere attitude shook her unexpectedly. _'He doesn't know what he's doing. He's not playing dumb or acting this way on purpose, he really is genuine.'_ She thought trying to wrap her mind around this revelation.

Chichi shook her head softly, "It's okay Goku. Just remember this for next time you're with someone new…especially a girl."

He nodded enthusiastically and moved the fish carcass over to her. "I'll go find my clothes. Do you mind starting on this?"

"I- I wait but-"she sputtered helplessly only for Goku to have already run back into the forest. Staring at the prehistorically sized fish Chichi groaned to herself. "You idiot, how can I cook something like this? I can't even lift it."

Fortunately she found a large fire pit close by and guessed this is where Goku cooked most of his meals. Starting a fire was easy enough as there were carefully placed and expertly cut logs right next to the pit. She decided to leave the fish for Goku to put over the fire and make some side dishes from the rice and the vegetables she had saved in a refrigerator capsule.

Moments later Goku returned fully clothed sans his black undershirt and boots, which he commented on needing a break from for some reason. Chichi observed him putting the heavy fish over the fire like it was second nature. His eyes glazed over in hungry at seeing Chichi boiling rice and sautéing vegetables.

"Is that for me too?" He asked creeping up behind her to get a better look at the food.

She giggled a bit when she turned to see him practically salivating. "As long as you save some fish for me." She said jokingly. Of course he wouldn't be able to eat that monster all by himself.

Instead of laughing he looked down at her with a pout. "Well I'll try I guess."

"Try? That fish could feed an entire family for days probably!" She yelled incredulously. He jumped back at her outburst and scratched the back of his head with a nervous smile.

"Yeah, but didn't I tell you I eat a lot?"

She huffed and turned to her food. "Fine! I'll eat what I'm making and you have your fish all to yourself!" There was no way he could eat all that by himself and Chichi chalked it up to him being a selfish man. It surprised and baffled her, Goku seemed like such as sweet person, clueless, but sweet even though she hadn't known him long.

Goku pouted harder. "Aww but your food smells so good, can't I taste it?"

Giving him an icy stare he seemed to get the message and backed off, but his pout remained as he went to cook his fish.

They both finished cooking around the same time. Goku ate his fish seared and was happily chomping away in an almost primitive manner that had Chichi looking away in disgust.

She ate her vegetarian meal quietly, but could sense his eyes on her. When she looked up he was mere inches from her face.

Chichi screamed almost knocking her food from her plate. "Goku! Don't do that!" She yelled, placing her hand over her rapidly beating heart.

He cocked his head to the side in confusion, but ignored her jumpiness. "Please don't be mad at me anymore. When I'm hungry I always feel really weak and I didn't think I could share, but that wasn't nice I guess. Especially when you were cooking for me too."

Putting down her food and crossing her arms Chichi eyed him skeptically. "Are you just saying that so you can have some of my food?"

Goku smiled sheepishly. "It does smell really good, and look-" He got up and went over to his fish, "I can give you some! I promise I'll share!"

Sighing, but with a small smile across her face Chichi shook her head. "I'm actually pretty full now. You can have the rest of my food." She wasn't sure what possessed her to take his apology so readily, but that sincere expression won her over again, and even if he was a bit selfish maybe he didn't know any better. There were a lot of things about Goku Chichi was in the dark about, and one of those seemed to be his lack of social graces that had gotten him in trouble twice with her today.

His eyes lite up as he began to devour the rest her food and fish with gusto. Almost done with the entire meal Goku hadn't slowed down a bit, and in fact became more ravenous with each bite. Chichi sat there in shock as he ate the last of the meat and sighed contently while rubbing his stomach.

"That was great! Thanks for the meal!" He said grinning towards her.

' _He…He really can eat all that much…'_ She thought almost falling over. "But… how can you eat all that?" She asked pointing at him in disbelief.

He shrugged casually. "Dunno. My friends still look at me weird too. I used to have eating contests with Krillin when we were kids, but now I beat him all the time so I don't know anyone else who can eat like me."

"You're just one mystery after the next." She concluded. Looking up towards the sky Chichi noticed the sun begin to go down. "Must be around 5 or 6 now. The day went by so fast."

Goku nodded in agreement and laid down on the plush grass with his hands behind his head. Sitting a few feet away with her legs tucked in under her Chichi brushed her hair back behind her ear, "Goku didn't you say you'd tell me about all the adventures you went on? I'm really curious."

He propped himself on his elbows to look up at the young raven-haired woman. "Yeah I did, huh? Where do I start?"

"I'm not sure…didn't you say you have a grandpa? Where is he?"

He shook his head. "He died a long time ago when I was a kid."

Chichi gasped and gave him a sympathetic look, "I'm so sorry. It must have been tough out here by yourself."

His blank expression turned into a smile and he dismissed her sadness with a wave of his hand, "No its okay! I got to meet him again when a fortuneteller named Baba brought him from other world. It was nice, I miss him still, but I'm okay!"

Chichi was once again dumbfounded, "wait, you saw your dead grandfather because a fortuneteller brought him back? Explain everything." She demanded.

"But it's a long story." He whined.

Huffing she crossed her arms over her chest, "Goku you can't just tell a story like that and not expect some questions. Tell me everything."

Goku threw his head back and lied on the grass. "Well I guess it all started when Bulma found me."

Chichi rolled her eyes at the name. "And _who_ is that?"

"My first friend. She found me here when I was twelve. I didn't know anything about people except for what my grandpa told me so meeting her was strange. She was the first girl I met too and was really weird, still is, but she's nice when she's not mad, and smart with gadget things…oh and has a really big house in West City."

Chichi didn't know what to make of his description of this girl. She was his first friend, the first girl he met which was hard to fathom, but it seemed to make sense. Without being in the presence of anyone for who knows how many years it was only logical that Goku wasn't exactly socially aware. It was almost tragic in a way, but it didn't look like it bothered the young martial artist in the least.

"So how did she end up here? It's so far from any city." She asked, pressing him further.

"Well that goes into an even bigger story," sitting up he smiled slyly, "I hope your comfortable, cause I'm gonna tell you about the dragon balls."

She raised an eyebrow uncertainly, "dragon's what?"

His smirk grew and he proceeded to tell her the events that led to him becoming the Earth's strongest man. First how he and Bulma had met and decided to look for these supposed wish making balls, which Chichi remained skeptical about, but allowed him to continue. Bulma for one thing was quite the character, the way Goku would describe her made her seem insane, but to Chichi it sounded like she was a bit of a flirt with other men and Goku just didn't understand or ignored it.

"Yeah and then we met Master Roshi, he taught my grandpa and gave me Nimbus. He actually taught me tons of stuff, but that happens later. Anyway-"

"Wait!" Chichi yelled with a look of concentration. "The name you just said sounds familiar. This Master Roshi, is he a very old man?"

Goku nodded firmly, now lying on his side towards her. "Yup! He's bald, wears sunglasses, and a big turtle shell on his back sometimes."

Chichi's eyes widened and she beamed happily. "The turtle shell! Of course! He was my father's teacher! My father told me everything about him and his friend Gohan."

Goku's dark eyes lite up as well. "No kidding? Your old man was friends with my grandpa?"

She nodded smiling as she reminisced. "My father would always talk about Master Roshi and Gohan when I was younger and learning his fighting style, I can't believe it slipped my mind. That's why Mount Paozu sounded so familiar to me. My father always talked about going to visit, but he was always so busy especially dealing with those Red Ribbon Army thugs." She sneered.

Goku snorted a bit. "Oh yeah those guys were pretty annoying. Everyone made such a big deal out of them though, I don't know why."

"What makes you say that?"

He chuckled good naturedly, "You wanna hear the rest of the story, right?" In his smile there was something she couldn't quite place, but she dismissed it and prompted him to continue.

The story went on well into the night as they sat around a fire Goku had quickly assembled. He was animated as ever as he described his friends, the training, and the battles he had undergone at such a young age. His friends were definitely a colorful bunch and Chichi felt like she'd be a wet blanket if she ever met them. Goku spoke of all his battles with a crooked smile and excited gleam in his eyes. Those types of expressions seemed reserved for when he talked about battling and it didn't matter if the fight was friendly or life threatening.

Chichi could hardly keep track of everything Goku had done in his short life. Apparently he singlehandedly destroyed the Red Ribbon Army, was trained by the Guardian of the Earth Kami, brought his friends back from the dead with the dragon balls, and a number of other things that made Chichi's head spin. It was all so much for such a young carefree person to deal with, but Goku relished it all and did so with a broad smile.

"My last big battle was with Ma Junior. Well like I told you before, he was actually King Piccolo's child and he wanted revenge. You saw some of the battle, right?"

She nodded, "Yes, all I know is you two destroyed a lot of things."

His eye gleamed again as he described it. Chichi cringed in horror at some moments wondering how Goku could be alive to even tell this story and in the end was mortified when he told her he let the green monstrosity live to fight him another day.

"But how could you?! He can come back and try to destroy the Earth again!" She stood up suddenly and glowered down at him, "He'll try to kill you again!"

"And I'll defeat him again." Goku shrugged, he grinned nervously at her overbearing demeanor, but overall was unaffected it. "Everyone told me the same thing, but I didn't want Kami to die and I also sense something in him. It was goodness I think."

Chichi couldn't believe what she was hearing. After knowing what Piccolo had done to Goku during their battle with the full intention of killing him nothing about letting the monster go made sense. Of course from Goku's stories and his behavior with her she gathered he was sincere, charming in a strange way, and not so much naïve, but chose to look at things positively. She respected him for that, but she had to draw the line somewhere.

She shook her head angrily, "there's nothing good about him Goku! He's going to come back stronger and…and…don't you understand what you did?"

He stood up then, towering over her with a small smile. "You don't have to worry about me. He's part of Kami, I know there has to be something good in him, and if I'm wrong I'll get another fight out of it."

Huffing she looked him dead in the eyes. "You're insane. Your stories are insane. I shouldn't believe any of this, but its too insane not to believe."

Goku gave her his signature beaming grin, looking relieved she dropped her argument. "I can prove it to you if you doubt it. We can find the dragon balls and you can make any wish you want."

Chichi rolled her eyes and pushed past him towards her bag. "I'm too tired for this," she said getting out her sleeping bag and pillow. She turned to him inquisitively, "where do you sleep?"

He shrugged, "sometimes in the hut, other times I pass out from training and sleep outside."

"Would I fit in the hut too?"

He nodded, "sure! I'm gonna train right now since I haven't all day."

Not wanting to argue fruitlessly about the importance of getting a good night sleep Chichi grumbled and stomped over to the hut with her belongings. It was fairly well kept albeit dusty, but homey. Other than that she liked the privacy it gave her as she changed into her nightwear and crawled into her sleeping bag.

From inside Chichi could hear Goku striking fiercely against tree trunks and the ground with a deadly force. Even after his entire story up until this point he remained a mystery to her. There was something about him that she couldn't place and it was an unsettling contrast to his exuberate and good-hearted nature. He only seemed to get that way when he spoke about fighting especially the last battle with Piccolo.

Thinking back earlier in the day she remembered that his goal was to be stronger, but how could he achieve that if everyone was weaker than him? Was that why he kept Piccolo alive? The only other one who could possibly challenge Goku on a level playing field was shown mercy and Chichi realized it may have not been such pure intentions on Goku's part. But Goku was pure-hearted, Chichi was certain of that, it was shown from his attitude and his good deeds to the Earth.

Maybe it was unintentional or maybe it was a subconscious need…a subconscious hunger to fight no matter the costs. Suddenly Chichi's stomach growled and she felt a queasiness come over her. She abandoned her thoughts and rested her head uneasily on the pillow, tomorrow was a new day and she had to be ready for it.

* * *

A/N: So a lot of explanations/history this chapter, next chapter I promise they'll be doing some things. I really wanted to incorporate Chichi learning more about Goku's flaws/saiyan blood early on before the romance sets in. Also I'm going to have this in her point of view for a bit longer, they'll be taking turns learning more about each other and Chichi might take some time. Thank you again for reading!

PS: Anyone else catch the first episode of DBS? I have so many feelings right now - u - such nostalgia


	3. Discover

A/N: Hey everyone! I'd like to thank all the reviews, favs, and follows this story has received. Sorry about the long overdue update, I was on a family vacation and well that doesn't leave much time for writing, but it did give me some time to think about ideas for upcoming chapters. Anyway, without further ado here is the next chapter! Please enjoy!

* * *

 _Meeting in the Middle_

 _Chapter 3: Discover_

Chichi was naturally an early riser and woke up as the sun barely peaked over the mountaintops. She slept restfully the night before, but recalled vivid dreams of monkey people and flying. Noticing that Goku was not sleeping inside the hut she decided it was safe to undress and changed into a blue cheongsam and red boots. Tying her hair in a loose ponytail she headed outside to see if she could freshen up somewhere.

Outside Chichi instantly noticed more logs by the fire pit and significantly less amount trees surrounding the clearing. "It's a wonder I slept at all with him knocking down trees all hours of the night." She huffed, scanning the area for the martial artist. Following the sound of loud snoring she spotted him lying on his back against a large tree branch with his limbs hanging.

' _I should let him sleep and find a river to wash up.'_ Despite not taking much of a liking for the princess lifestyle Chichi was not about to give up good daily hygiene just because she decided to leave the comforts of her castle.

The river was easy enough to find and extremely close by, though she did notice a large ravine on her way there and shuddered inwardly, _'I know Goku was strong as a child, but it's a miracle he didn't fall down and hit his head while living here.'_ She thought as she worriedly bit her lip.

Since last night her thoughts on Goku had definitely shifted from blind admiration to just plain confusing. Still, he was a very amazing person, despite some of his oddities, and even that strangeness of his had an endearing quality she couldn't get passed.

Rinsing in the cold river water was more than a pain, but she made the best of it as she washed her hair and face. "I'm really regretting not bringing a capsule house." Chichi muttered for the millionth time, drying her hair with a small towel.

"Chichi!" Goku's voice rang out loudly as he stepped out from a bush and jogged towards her with a toothy grin. She noticed his hair was a bit wilder than usual and his gi torn in a few areas.

' _I guess I can patch up those holes for him. I wonder if he even has any other clothes.'_ She thought distastefully as she sniffed the air around him to see if he smelled odd.

"How'd you find me?" She asked, tying her hair and adjusting her outfit of any wrinkles.

Goku ignored the question. "So you ready to go?"

"What on earth are you talking about, Goku?"

"Remember? Finding the dragon balls!" He exclaimed with a gleam in his eyes.

She scoffed, shaking her head. "That was your crazy idea and I wasn't even considering it. Don't you remember what I told you yesterday? I'm on a journey of self-discovery not a wild goose chase."

Goku's child-like smile dropped and he pouted. "Yeah, but if we find the dragon balls you can just wish to discover yourself or whatever that means, I thought it sounded fun."

Chichi almost felt a tinge of guilt for making Goku sad, but he didn't seem to care at all about what she wanted and to her he was just looking for another adventure to distract him.

"Goku I don't want to do that, it would just be a waste of time." She said dismissing him with a sigh.

She could see that his face looked even more crestfallen and almost groaned at the unfairness of it all as his eyes unrelentingly bore into hers. "You and me going on an adventure…you think it would be a waste of time?"

Sputtering indignantly she could hardly believe what she was seeing and hearing. He looked like a kicked puppy and it was killing her. "T-that's not what I meant! I said making a wish would be a waste, n-not the other thing." Chichi stuttered out, feeling her face grow hot under his sad gaze.

He instantly brightened at her embarrassing admission and pumped his fists into the air happily. "You mean us going on an adventure together? Sounds fun, huh?"

Chichi didn't know what to think. He looked so genuinely disheartened when she refused his idea, not because of the dragon balls, but because he actually wanted to spend more time with her. She knew for a fact she deeply admired Goku, but never imagined he would have similar feelings. "You really want to go with me, Goku?"

He shrugged carelessly with his signature grin in place. "Sure, why not? We could train together and we don't have to make a wish, you can just meet Shenron when we gather all the dragon balls."

"But what are you getting out of all this? Training with me won't improve your strength." She couldn't fathom his intentions at all, what did she have to offer the strongest man in the world? How could a girl who's never done a thing for herself be interesting to him?

"Dunno. It'll be fun I think that's all." He said simply without much thought. "You're pretty nice to talk to and Nimbus likes you so we can travel easy."

Chichi sighed, struggling with what to say. Goku made everything seem so simple, but she discovered early on last night that he had always been this way. When he decided to go along with Bulma it was for the thrill of adventure, nothing more and even now she could tell little had changed about him despite being a grown man. But then she thought about what he had just said. He liked her company and actually wanted it enough to feel hurt when she refused him. However she also knew Goku didn't dislike anyone, not even Piccolo so his compliment was probably not as special as she would've liked it to be.

"I'm…I'm not sure, Goku. You're not going to ditch me if something more fun for you comes along, right?" She asked, narrowing her eyes. Chichi could already picture Goku finding a stronger fighter on their journey and leaving her behind to train with them. She didn't think Goku was cruel or anything, but his distracted nature made him unpredictable.

He furrowed his brows in confusion. "More fun than looking for the dragon balls and sparring with you? No, I don't think so. It'll be just like when I was a kid, those were the best times ever." He said smiling brightly.

Despite her doubt Chichi couldn't help but mirror his infectious smile. He really did enjoy her company and perhaps she was thinking about it too hard. Having Goku along with her should be a dream come true and she was just letting her worries cloud her judgment. She nodded enthusiastically, no longer holding back her initial apprehension. "If you really want to Goku, then yes, I'd be honored if you joined me."

Goku nodded back happily, but suddenly his demeanor changed and his brows furrowed. Walking forward he placed his heavy hands on her shoulders and stared her dead in the eyes. "But Chichi, I don't want you to feel like I'm making you let me come along. I don't wanna get in the way of you finding yourself."

Chichi's mouth hung open in shock. She remembered when she had first met Goku yesterday he had the same dead-set expression that could make anyone shake in their boots. Now instead of scaring her like before, his stern face and words coupled with his warm hands on her skin comforted her in a way that shook her to the core.

She had just met this man and yet…

"Goku…I-"

"You don't have to make up your mind now." He said interrupting her, though she wasn't sure if she could even form an actual sentence at this point. His grin returned quickly as he took his hands off of her like nothing had happened. "We can start searching for the dragon balls and if you get tired of it just tell me to leave."

Finally getting out of her stupor Chichi bellowed angrily, "Goku! That's incredibly rude I would never do that!"

He laughed nervously when he saw the fire in her eyes. "Well…then I'll never leave!" He exclaimed.

She rolled her eyes at his sheepish smile, but was inwardly cheering. This entire conversation left her weighing the negatives and positives, but she knew deep down that she was ecstatic at the turn of events and it was all happening so quickly and seamlessly it was almost like a dream. But knowing Goku, and even for the short amount of time that she did, he wasn't one to mull over things like she was and did whatever felt right, and she did agree that this felt right.

Walking back to Goku's home side by side Chichi turned to him curiously. "We should have breakfast first before we go right?"

"Nah, we'll just eat at Bulma's! She's got tons of food." He said with his mouth watering and eyes glazing over fondly.

"B-bulma? But why?" She squawked thinking that Goku now wanted his first friend to tag along with them. _'How rude! He didn't even ask me!'_ She inwardly shouted.

He ignored her outburst. "We have to get the dragon radar first. I think I remember telling you about it."

"Oh right…it slipped my mind." Chichi murmured awkwardly feeling more than a bit ashamed that she jumped to conclusions.

Goku gave her a thumbs-up and went to pack some of his meager possessions from his grandfather's hut. A few moments later he stepped out with a new gi, a small sack of belongings, and a red pole tied to his back.

"Is that the nyo-bo?" Chichi asked in wonder as she touched the legendary object.

He nodded back and called for Nimbus who came spiraling down moments later. "Yeah I don't use it as much as I used to, but it might help us if we want to go see Kami for a visit."

"Meeting the guardian of the Earth?" Chichi asked uncertainly, "I don't think so Goku, you were personally invited because you're the strongest fighter on this planet, I can't measure up to that."

Goku hopped on Nimbus and extended his hand down to help her climb up. "Aww it'll just be a visit, maybe if sparring with me goes good you can get strong enough to train with Kami."

Chichi eyed him oddly and frowned. "Now I know you're talking crazy. Not everyone sleeps, eats, and breathes fighting like you do." She chided holding on to his bicep as they ascended quickly above the clouds.

The young martial artist looked back at her perplexed. "But didn't you say you really like fighting? You told me so yesterday."

She sighed in defeat. "Well I mean I do but- but I'm not insane about it. I'm not like you Goku."

Goku pouted and turned his attention forward. Chichi felt that sinking guilt in the pit of her stomach again for shooting down his idea. _'Fighting and training can't be the answer to everything though…he just doesn't understand. Why did none of his friends teach him that there's more to life?'_ She thought sadly. Now on their way to Bulma's house Chichi figured she might get some answers to her questions since this woman was the first human contact Goku had aside from his grandfather.

It didn't take long before they were flying over cityscapes with Goku lowering Nimbus to get a better view. "Don't you think people will get scared if they see us on a cloud?" Chichi asked looking down worriedly. They were still relatively high in the air, but it was clear as day to anyone on the street that there was a yellow puffy cloud soaring through the sky.

Goku merely responded by moving Nimbus closer and sure enough Chichi looked down to see city-goers gawking and pointing at them. "I hate this attention." She groaned, tightening her hold and hiding behind Goku's broad back.

"Hey why you grabbing me so hard?" Goku complained and tried to pull away as they descended even further. She muttered from him to shut up and soon Nimbus had lowered them onto a crisp green lawn in the heart of West City.

Finally taking in the view Chichi noticed the extraordinarily large dome shaped building Nimbus landed next to and gaped. The large Capsule Corp sign surprised her, but the fact that Goku was walking towards it almost made her fall over in panic.

"Goku!" She hissed loudly, grabbing his forearm, "you're walking towards the Capsule Corp. building!"

He stopped and stared at her with an innocently clueless expression. "Well yeah, we want to go see Bulma, right?"

"Bulma works _here_?" She balked. Capsule Corp. was the richest, most powerful corporation in the world. Chichi could only imagine how important Bulma was if she worked right at the headquarters.

Goku scratched the back of his head and chuckled, "nope she lives here."

Chichi stared at him speechless and was sure she would've fallen over in that instant if she hadn't been holding on to his arm.

The young man was about to ask what was wrong when suddenly the front door slid open and a beautiful blonde haired woman stepped out. "Oh I thought I heard someone!" She greeted cheerfully. "Its so nice to see you Goku dear."

Goku gave the woman a prompt wave and his signature grin. "Hi Mrs. Briefs, is Bulma here?"

Chichi's eyes widened at the mention of Briefs. Somehow Goku had forgotten to mention the little fact that his first friend came from the richest, smartest, most-well known family in the world and if it had not been for the woman standing in front of them Chichi was positive she'd be screaming Goku's head off by now.

The woman smiled pleasantly at the two. "Bulma's in the lab right now," she answered then turned to Chichi, "oh my, I didn't know Goku had a girlfriend, its nice to meet you."

Chichi's face reddened as she let go of Goku's arm as fast as she possibly could. "No you have the wrong idea I'm not-!"

"You're not?" Goku interrupted with a naive bewilderment. "You're my friend aren't you?"

The young woman could feel her face grow ten times hotter under his questioning gaze and stammered louder. "Y-yes, but I'm not-"

"You're not a girl? I could've sworn you were." He interrupted again and furrowed his brows thoughtfully looking her up and down.

Chichi's mouth hung open in utter shock and fury. Resisting the urge to slap the clueless look off his face she balled her fists and stomped away.

"Oh dear…" Mrs. Briefs sighed worriedly. "I should get Bulma." She said, rushing back into the house.

Goku stood there blinking in confusion. He caught up to Chichi quickly, but she pressed on ignoring his questioning gaze. "Did I say something wrong? You're not my girlfriend?" He called out as she continued in some unknown direction.

Chichi's mind was buzzing a mile a minute trying to tamper down her anger. On one hand she knew she was overreacting to Goku's naiveté on the subject of women and men as it was still a very foreign concept to the once secluded martial artist. If anything she could've easily forgiven him for his blunder with a heavy blush consuming her face, but of course the oaf had to take it a step further. _'He can't even tell I'm a woman! Here I am blushing like a little school girl over the way he looks and he can't even tell the difference between me and a man!'_ She screamed in her head. She pouted harder at the unfairness of it all and found a bench to sit and mope on.

Moments later she could hear Goku's cheerful greeting and a spritely feminine voice. Chichi looked up to see a beautiful blue-haired woman in a tanktop and shorts hugging the tall young man with vigor. The woman's azure eyes sparkled happily at him. "I wasn't expecting to see you for awhile Goku, usually you disappear for a few years after each time I see you." She chided playfully.

Goku shrugged helplessly and chuckled.

As if sensing a pair of eyes on her the young woman turned her gaze over to Chichi in surprise. "Oh wow you really did bring a girl! I thought my mom was trying to make a joke or something." She exclaimed rushing over to the troubled teen.

"Hi nice to meet you! I'm Bulma." She said extending her hand happily.

Chichi forced a small smile and shook her hand limply. "You too, I've heard a lot about you. I'm Chichi."

Bulma winked, "I hope it was all good things!" She then turned to Goku with a mock glare. "Unfortunately I can't say the same. Where've you been hiding her, Goku?"

The black-haired woman shook her head. "We just met yesterday…we hardly know each other." She said with her eyes downcast. Despite her inner protests Chichi couldn't deny the fact that she barely knew the man standing in front of her, even though she knew his entire life up until this moment there was so much that remained undiscovered about him as a person.

"O-oh." Bulma faltered, but laughed it off, "Of course. For a second I thought Goku brought a girlfriend with him, but then I thought this is Goku we're talking about! Do you even know what a girlfriend is?" She asked jokingly towards the young man.

Goku pouted and scratched the back of his head. "I thought it meant one thing, but I guess it means something else?"

Bulma smirked shaking her head. "Its so hard to believe you're eighteen years old sometimes." She then looked over at Chichi with a mischievous smile. "His cluelessness will definitely get him trouble with girls, won't it?"

Chichi tried to put on her best face, but could only make an attempt at an awkward giggle. Suddenly she felt so embarrassed for being such an open book to the woman in front of her. Bulma of course was a genius, but it didn't seem to take one to know what was going in Chichi's mind.

Fortunately, Goku's stomach broke the silence as he grumbled about breakfast. Bulma nodded and clapped her hands together cheerfully, "How about we go inside then? We can eat and get to know each other more, how's that sound?"

Chichi sighed quietly, but put aside her frustration for the moment as she nodded back politely. Looking up she could see Goku already making large leaps towards the Brief's home and Bulma shaking her head at him with a fond smile.

Bulma's softened looks at Goku didn't go unnoticed by Chichi, but for reasons she didn't quite understand none of it bothered her or made jealousy rear its ugly head in her mind like it did when she first heard the woman's name. In fact it also made her smile a touch as she got and patted down her dress.

"Lets head inside before Goku eats everything in sight, okay?" The aqua-haired woman snickered then winked, "oh and we can talk later just you and me."

Chichi nodded dumbly not sure what to say as Bulma breezed past her. Not wanting to be left out she followed right behind her with a buzzing curiosity.

* * *

A/N: So that's it for this chapter. I'm sorry it's shorter than the last one, but I have a feeling the next one will be longer. How am I doing on characterization btw? I had a friend read this and she said I made Bulma too nice haha, I'm not sure if that's true or not. She does have a short-temper I admit, but I think when she's around new people her politeness shows and she just wants everyone to have a good time.

Also this is off topic but does anyone have any favorite Gohan/Videl fics they'd like to recommend? After the cute DBS fanservice moments with them I really want to read a few. You can message me instead of reviewing if you know or have written any and I'm really open-minded too so whatever type of fic is good with me.

Thank you again for reading!


	4. Fighter

A/N: Thank you everyone who reviewed, faved, followed and read the last chapter! For the following chapter I'll be keeping it in Chichi's perspective and have the next five be in Goku's. Meaning they both get five each if I choose to end the story in ten chapters which I'm not certain is long enough, I still have some planning to do.

* * *

 _Meeting in the Middle_

 _Chapter 4: Fighter_

Chichi gazed around speechlessly as she followed Bulma inside the Brief's house. While already accustomed to a certain level of sophisticated living as a princess, this sleek and technologically advance home was completely new territory for her. She was deeply impressed, but at heart the country girl still preferred a simpler and cozier style.

Both women strolled into the grand kitchen to see Goku feasting on his gourmet breakfast faster than the robot servant could set down plates. Bulma rolled her eyes at the display and offered Chichi the seat across from Goku.

"Sitting here will be your best chance at getting anything to eat." She joked and sat down next to the black-haired woman.

Chichi smiled at her politely and reached for a muffin. Goku who had been eyeing it at the exact moment unknowingly placed his hand on top of hers. Two sets of coal eyes locked on one another in alarm and despite Chichi's flustering attempts to lightly pull away Goku's hand remained heavily gripping her own.

"You can have it." They both said at once. Goku's eyes widened and Chichi's face darkened in embarrassment.

Goku finally relented his grip with a determined look in her direction. "Have it," he instructed simply.

Chichi shook her head and pushed it in his direction. "I'm fine, you have it."

"No, you." He said pushing it back.

"No, you." Push.

Before Goku could respond Bulma snatched the muffin and took a giant anger bite out of it. "You two are impossible," she reprimanded sourly, "I have enough muffins to feed twenty Gokus."

Feeling even more sheepish Chichi grabbed another pastry and tried in vain to ignore the tingling feeling spreading throughout her hand. It didn't seem to affect Goku in the slightest as he went back to shoveling as much food as he could down his throat without choking. She still wasn't sure how she felt about Goku, there still remained a small bubbling angry from what he said earlier, but his display just now showed signs that he took her feelings into consideration. It was only a day ago that he out right refused to share his food with her, now his quick insistence left her giddy, but also frustrated with herself. ' _It's just a damn muffin and I'm already forgiving him and getting all emotional, how pathetic can you get?'_ She groaned internally.

Bulma eyed the younger woman with a playful smile, deciding to take advantage of the awkward silence. "Sooo Chichi, why don't you tell me about yourself?" She asked, leaning on the table.

Hesitating on where to start Goku jumped in and answered for her. "She's a fighter like me! And her dad was trained by Master Roshi with my grandpa!" He exclaimed and went back to munching on his meal.

Bulma studied her with an impressed gleam in her eyes. "Wow that's a weird coincidence isn't it? I'm surprised you two haven't met before actually."

"Well I never really leave my home much since my father is very protective. Yesterday was my first day on my own when I met Goku." Chichi stated a little bashfully. Talking about her sheltered life embarrassed her especially in front of someone as worldly as Bulma Brief.

The other woman's expression softened and she smiled warmly. "That kind of reminds me of Goku. The little guy was so cut off from the world when I met him." She said looking up at him fondly only to cringe as he shoved a whole ham in his mouth.

Turning back to Chichi she asked, "why is your dad so protective though? If he trained you like Master Roshi trained him you're probably a really good fighter, right?"

She sighed sadly, catching both Bulma's and Goku's attention. "He's more worried about me because my mother passed away. He trained me so I wouldn't be fragile, but I think him worrying will always be a part of who he is. Plus, well…with me possibly taking over for him one day he wants me to stay close by."

"Take over for him?" Bulma questioned with a raised brow.

Chichi flittered nervously under Bulma's pressing gaze. It wasn't like she had something to hide though she did wonder how'd they take the news of who her father was. It also made her realize she never really talked about herself yesterday to Goku. It saddened her to think he mainly only seemed interested in her fighting skills and where she learned them.

"Well I guess you could say my father rules over Fire Mountain or Mt. Fry Pan as some people call it. I'm his only child and heir." She said simply, not wanting to get into the semantics of it all.

Unsurprisingly, Bulma was the first to react as she gaped at the younger woman. "W-wait a minute, are you saying you're the Ox King's daughter?"

Not wanting to see the fear in the other's aqua eyes Chichi looked down at her hands and nodded. She wasn't the least bit ashamed of her father, in fact she couldn't be more proud of him for how much he changed, but no one understood him like she did so it hurt to see that his name still evoked terror in people's minds.

"Who's the Ox King? Why does it matter that Chichi's his daughter?" Goku asked suddenly. Chichi gazed up dumbstruck to see a genuinely clueless look on the man in front of her.

Bulma growled and lightly bonked Goku on the head. "You dummy! Chichi's basically a princess and the Ox King is…he's like a…" She trailed off awkwardly. "I mean I've heard rumors about him. It's all probably really exaggerated." She said eyeing the other girl nervously.

The ebony haired woman gave both of them a dejected smile. "It's not, but my father isn't like that anymore and I mean it. He's a good man now."

It was silent and still for a long moment until Goku gave her a firm nod. "If Chichi says so then he is a good person." He said resolutely. Flushing a bit Chichi sent him a sincere beam.

Bulma still wore a look of concern, but sighed. "Oh whatever. Being around Goku has made me immune to craziness. So Chichi, what's it like being a princess?"

Deciding to roll with their unusually easygoing natures she told them of her life as a princess in the rural mountain her father conquered years ago. It didn't take long for Bulma to get into more daring questions as her smile turned cheeky.

"Being a princess means you must know some princes, right? Think any are interested in a beautiful genius such as myself?" She asked with a sultry expression while running her fingers through her locks.

Chichi rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Not that I can really remember."

Bulma pouted. "Darn, I can really see myself with royalty. When I was younger I even wanted to use the dragon balls to wish me a boyfriend who was a prince!" She said with a giggle only to seethe a moment later. "Too bad I spent so much time with a lying cheater."

The younger woman didn't know to make of the other's sudden change in attitude or her words. From what she gathered yesterday Bulma wasn't in any kind of relationship though she wouldn't put it passed Goku to forget or be naive to something like that. Thinking back she did recall the duo spent a lot of their adventures with the former desert bandit Yamcha. Initially it relieved her to find out there was another boy Bulma spent a lot of her time with, now however it didn't matter since she began to understand Goku and Bulma's relationship.

Deciding to lighten the mood Chichi sent a smile in her direction. "I'm sure you can get any guy, in fact maybe you already found him? Goku told me you and his friend Yamcha were always together doing things, maybe-"

"Don't even say that name to me!" Bulma interrupted with a startling shout.

She narrowed her eyes at the raven-haired woman and jumped up from her chair. "Goku doesn't even know what a girlfriend means! And what does that womanizing idiot Yamcha know?!"

"No one told me what it means." Goku replied blandly, ignoring the rest of Bulma's rant.

Not wanting to get on the blue-haired beauty's bad side Chichi shook her head earnestly. "I assumed wrong, it's my fault!"

Bulma sighed at her sincere expression and plopped back down in her chair. "No...I just get so riled up when someone mentions that idiot's name to me. I'm totally through with him for sure this time!" She huffed, crossing her arms.

As a headstrong woman herself Chichi understood what it was like to flare-up only to regret it a moment later. Trying not to overstep her boundaries the younger woman nodded quickly and left it at that. Bulma, however to Chichi's uncomfortable displeasure, continued to rage on about her ex-boyfriend for the next few minutes.

Chichi fiddled with her hair and eyed Goku warily. Given that Yamcha was a close friend she figured he wouldn't take kindly to his name being dragged through the mud even if it was coming from Bulma. Instead to her surprise he sat there done with his feast and zoning out with a glazed over look.

"Well whatever, that loser doesn't know what he's missing." Bulma said with a final grumble. Finally looking up she almost sweat dropped at the sight of both the nervous girl and half-asleep martial artist. "Oops I guess I got carried away, huh? How about I show you around the place Chichi? Goku, you can take a nap if you want." She suggested, getting up.

Goku nodded, tired from his lack of sleep the night before. As they headed out the door he called out to them groggily, "wait, the reason we came was to ask for the dragon radar, we can borrow it, right?" He asked with a yawn.

The black-haired teen flushed when she heard Goku's sleepy voice drop an octave or two as his half lidded eyes stared up at them. It was a miracle to her that Bulma remained unaffected by his sheer attractiveness and merely shrugged at Goku's request. "Sure that's fine, but how about we make a deal?"

"…A deal?" He groaned slumping his head on the metallic table.

"That's right!" She shouted shrilly. "That no good Yamcha left a lot of his junk here when I kicked him out and I need that crap out of my house! You can take it to him on your way to find the dragon balls."

"Well, where is he?"

Bulma rolled her eyes. "How should I know? Probably at Kame House with the other perverts."

Goku let out a soft chuckle and agreed to her deal. Chichi couldn't help, but notice how his eyes shined happily at the mention of Kame House. She wasn't so sure about the pervert comment, but there was no doubt her interest piqued when she heard they'd be journeying to the famous home of Master Roshi, the very same place her father learned his techniques and passed down to her.

Chichi and Goku shared a brief wave goodbye before she followed Bulma out of the kitchen. The tour around the compound left her with a newfound respect for the genius in front of her.

"So your father basically created all this and you've been helping him since you were a child?" She asked in amazement as Bulma showed her one of the many labs.

The other woman wore a smug smile. "Yup, I was pretty much born a genius. That's why Goku and I made such a good team, I'm the brains and he's the brawns."

"Well I wish I could say the same. I guess I'm just somewhere in the middle." Chichi replied almost dejectedly. "Living in the country I was never exposed to anything like this."

The azure-haired woman patted her back softly. "Aww don't be so down. I think it's a great thing that Goku has someone that understands his way of life and is a girl!" She stated with delight. "Besides I'm sure you noticed the guy definitely needs some help in the female department."

Chichi frowned contemplatively, knowing now she could finally bring up what had been on her mind since yesterday. "About that… you've known Goku for so long and he has a lot of friends now, why does he still know so little about people?" She questioned, angrily remembering only an hour or so ago Goku couldn't even tell the difference between her and a man. Deep down she hoped beyond hope it was an issue he had with everyone and not just her alone.

Bulma sighed exasperatedly and took a seat across from her. "Look Chichi the thing about him is that when it's not about fighting he's not that interested. Plus every time I was with him we were always busy looking for the dragon balls or getting out of danger, I didn't really have time to sit him down and talk about the birds and the bees like a mom or something. I'm sure he's also told you he went to train by himself a lot, well that means I wouldn't see the little guy for years sometimes."

The other woman nodded in understanding. It all logically made sense and she felt foolish for putting all the blame on Bulma and his other friends when it was Goku who never thought to explore or question the world outside of fighting.

"When I saw him again at the WMAT I couldn't believe how much he grew up, I guess it was all just physically though." Bulma said flatly only to give the other girl a sly grin. "But now you're here."

Chichi's face blossomed into a dusky pink. "W-what do you mean by that?"

Bulma snorted humorlessly. "Cut the innocent girl routine, I practically invented that. I know you've been eyeing him." She said in a sing-song voice.

There was no point in beating around the bush with Bulma and Chichi knew she was never the type to hide her thoughts or feelings. The black-haired woman gave in and groaned. "Not like it matters anyway. Like you said, Goku doesn't care if I'm a man or a woman, I've only got his attention because I'm a fighter."

"I did say that." Bulma coincided. "I also said he's a clueless guy, but he's not hopeless or stupid and he's a fast learner when he wants to be. You being a fighter is your way in, Chichi. Trust me, it won't be easy, but I know you like him and in his naïve way he likes you too." She winked.

Chichi didn't know what to say, but she felt a sense of relief wash over her at Bulma's words. This woman believed in her and she had known Goku the longest out of all of his friends. "I'll do it. But I want you to know it's not only because I like him more than a friend, I just think it's important he knows a world that doesn't always involve fighting." She said determinately. Just thinking back on Goku's melancholy face when he pictured a life without constantly training made Chichi all the more driven to open him to something more.

Bulma nodded at her cheerfully. "That's the spirit, plus it wouldn't hurt if Goku settled down!"

A deep rosiness brushed over Chichi's face. "Excuse me?!" She cried out.

Bulma giggled coyly. "Too soon?"

Not wanting her face to get any redder Chichi attempted to haphazardly change the subject and asked about one of Bulma's inventions she noticed lying on the table next to her. Luckily, the other woman was feeling merciful and let it slide as she continued on with the tour.

A couple hours passed by quickly and both women strode back into the kitchen. To their surprise they found no sign of their unruly-haired friend.

"I bet you twenty zeni he's training." Bulma muttered.

Chichi huffed in mild annoyance, but was curious to see how he trained. "Do you know where he went?" She asked.

The other woman nodded, guiding her to a large patio that had a high vantage view of the spacious backyard. Gazing down Chichi easily spotted her new friend doing a set of push-ups with his index finger.

"I knew he'd be here." Bulma laughed dryly.

Chichi drowned out the noise around her as her dark eyes darted back and forth between Goku's gritting face and his flexing muscles.

Side eyeing the distracted woman Bulma snickered. "He is a hunk though. I still can't get over how much he's changed."

Catching herself staring, Chichi fumbled with a response. "Oh uh, really? He changed that much?"

"Oh yeah. It's so strange though, he barely grew an inch from when he was twelve to fifteen and then just three years later he was almost a head taller than me!" Bulma exclaimed.

"You don't say?" Chichi murmured noncommittally as she placed her hands on the rail to get a better look for purely speculative reasons and not because Goku's muscles shined nicely under the hot sun, or so she told herself.

Bulma yawned, showing signs of her growing boredom. "Not that I have a problem with you wanting to watch him all day or anything, but how about I show you your guest room?"

"I wasn't-!" Chichi cried out then deadpanned at the teasing look she received. "Oh whatever, a guest room?"

"Well I figure you guys can stay the night before you go to Kame House." She said with a shrug, already heading back inside. "Come on I'll show you."

The guest room much like the rest of the house had every luxury and more to satisfy even the most spoilt of royalty. Taking a seat on the lush king sized bed Chichi sighed contently, "this sure beats a sleeping bag in an old hut." Giving into temptation she lied down with her arms spread out.

"Well duh." Bulma boasted. "Anyway, my dad's been calling me for the past half hour to go help him in the lab, you wouldn't mind staying here would you?

Chichi sat up in alarm. "He has? I don't think I heard a phone go off since I've been here."

Bulma pointed to the flashing red light on her wristwatch. "It's more like a beeper. Usually he'll leave me alone if I ignore him for ten minutes, but it must be something big or his hand's stuck in the toaster again." She sighed dully.

Chichi giggled and eyed the device. "I don't want to keep you then. I might go outside and see how Goku's training is going."

The older woman smiled mischievously and waved as she walked out the door.

Feeling restless Chichi sighed and turned to the phone on the bedside table. She knew Bulma wouldn't mind if she made a personal call so she dialed the number and waited for the ring.

"Hi daddy I'm sorry I didn't call yesterday." She said into the phone. It was no surprise that her father picked it up right away and bombarded her with a million worrisome questions before she could even say hello.

"It's okay sweetie, I know you're a busy girl, but where are you now? Are you eating and sleeping okay?" He asked with care in his voice.

She smiled softly. "I'm actually- it's kind of a long story…"

After relaying everything to her father, minus a few details, specifically her budding attraction to the man she was now traveling with, he was more than thrilled to hear of his old master.

"I feel so bad for not knowing about Gohan's passing, but what luck that you met his grandson. You can learn a lot from him and Master Roshi of course." He said with a hint of sadness and a level of pride.

"I'm sure I will. Goku is…well he's amazing." She said in a breathless tone. "I really want you to meet him soon."

He chuckled uneasily at her excitement. "Of course sweetheart. I'd love to meet him."

After a heartfelt goodbye and a promise to call back as soon as possible she ambled out of her room stumped on what to do next.

"Chichi!" A masculine voice called out from behind her.

Turning she saw Goku jogging towards her with his usual carefree grin. "Bulma told me you wanted to train with me real bad! You shoulda told me earlier!" He exclaimed elatedly.

The raven-haired teen sighed in frustration. She could just picture Bulma winking at her with a sly smile on her lips. "Uh…sure…that sounds good eek-!" She squeaked in surprise as Goku dragged her quickly towards his temporary training ground.

"This is gonna be great. I've been waiting since forever to train with you." He said with a determined glow. Placing her on one side of the mock ring he walked onto the other with his stance ready.

"Well it couldn't be that long since it was just yesterday." She bluntly stated, slowly getting into her own stance.

Goku shrugged, his eyes shining with glee. "It feels like forever ago, I couldn't wait anymore."

Chichi sighed once again, recalling her talk with Bulma. _'Of course, I'm a fighter and that's what he cares about most…'_ She thought glumly.

Bulma told her to use to it spark his interest, but how could she possibly make him care about things unrelated to fighting? Mulling it over Chichi suddenly turned to her opponent with a knowing smirk. "How about we make a deal? If you win this fight I'll tell you what a girlfriend means."

Goku's eyes widened at the unusual challenge only to smirk back a moment later. "So all I have to do is beat you in this fight? No problem."

Hook. Line. And Sinker.

"That's right, if you can even touch me that is." She said with a haughty look.

Her taunting did it's job as Goku's face darkened and his stance jostled with impatience. Taking a shaky, but deep breath Chichi's eyes met his own and felt as ready as she'd ever be.

With an uncharacteristically smug expression Goku quickly launched into his offensive attack. Trying to stay light on her feet Chichi blocked a number of his jabs, but his hits were packed with such power she almost fell over immediately.

Jumping back the martial artist gave a toothy grin. "You're good, but this battle will be over really soon."

As much as she wanted to get this fight over with herself Chichi huffed indignantly. She might not be up to par with the greatest fighter in the world, but she was still very proud of her skills. "What do you know? I haven't made my first move yet." She replied wryly and hardened her stance.

"I know you won't hit me once." He stated cockily.

She growled in frustration, _'I can't believe how pigheaded he is when he fights! I was going to let him win quickly, but this is ridiculous!'_ Pacing swiftly she attacked him with a fierceness she never thought she could possess while battling the world's number one fighter. Her movements were fast, but his doubled in comparison. Her only consolation was that his eyes widened rather comically at seeing her attacks.

"You really do know your stuff from the Turtle School!" He exclaimed impressed, but still holding up well enough not to give her any openings.

"Quit dodging me like a coward!" Chichi grunted in response. She was losing both her breath and patience by the second while Goku stared at her dubiously still evading her every offense. While she knew Goku could attack at any moment and beat her regardless of how well she was doing it was the principle of the matter that she continue on. _'Besides if I'm not at least a good sparring partner he might completely lose interest, and then what will I have?'_ She asked herself with a heavy lump in her throat.

Feeling a need to prove herself she doubled her efforts and studied Goku's face. He hadn't said a word to her for some time but he gazed at her movements with deep concentration.

Mere minutes went by, but they felt like hours to Chichi. She soon grew exhausted and slowed down considerably, _'for someone who didn't even want to fight I sure put more effort than he did._ ' She thought sourly.

Goku's blank expression faded into a sincere smile as he began to slow down himself. "You're amazing Chichi!' He praised, "but I gotta win this!" He said with an excited gleam in his eyes. Punching the air in a quick, but powerful jab the wind in front of Chichi picked up so fiercely her entire body moved along with its current and sent her flying out of the ring.

"W-What?!" She screamed in disbelief as she tried to push back, but to no avail. Hitting the back of a tree that stood outside of the ring Chichi groaned in disoriented confusion.

Goku was by her side within a second. "Don't get up too fast, your head should clear up soon." He said with a look of mild concern as he bent down next to her under the tree.

She instinctively touched her head and moaned. "Ugh I can't believe it." She whispered harshly and turned to him with malice. "You really were just playing with me the whole time!"

The martial artist gazed at her with surprise, but laughed good-naturedly. "I wasn't kidding when I said you were amazing Chichi! When we started the fight I wanted to beat you really fast 'cause of our deal, but after I saw how you fought I had to see more of it."

Assisting her up with one large hand on her forearm and the other resting quite nicely on her lower back Chichi had almost forgotten her anger at the situation. "You're the amazing one Goku, but thanks for humoring me for a few minutes." She sighed, but smiled up at him brightly. "Thanks for the compliment too." At least for now she still held his interest or so he said even though she had been quickly beaten, that was a win in itself in her eyes.

Goku matched her smile with a dazzling one of his own. "So now that I won can you tell me what 'girlfriend' means?" He asked, perplexed.

Chichi chuckled inwardly at how well her planned came together, _'I guess that's two wins for me.'_ She grinned.

* * *

A/N: Tell me your thoughts!

I should have done this in my earlier chapters as well, but I wanted to personally say thank you to everyone who reviewed! A lot of great reviewers were anonymous so I couldn't thank you all properly, here are my responses to the last chapter.

ElricKeyblade: I'm really trying to get all of them as in-character as possible so I'm really relieved that you said that. Thanks so much!

Silbernacht: Thank you I feel so honored that this your first Goku/Chichi fic! I'm actually new to this community too, but fortunately there's so many great GoChi stories on here.

foxsqueen: Yes, I think even though Goku doesn't really express himself through words as much as actions he's learning a lot from Chichi by listening to what she has to say. Thank you for the review!

Sunshine: Thank you, you're so kind!

anonymous: Thank you! I usually update in 2-3 weeks, this one took a bit longer than expected.

You Light The Sky: Thank you so much! I'm really trying to convey their relationship in that way so I'm glad you see that. Chichi's definitely learning a lot about Goku, her being jealous of Bulma I think is kind of funny and shows she really didn't understand him at all at first. I also kind of wondered what Goku's life would've been like if Chichi hadn't been in the picture at all and I just doubt he'd have a family if it wasn't for her so it seems like he'd have a much lonelier existence despite his happy-go-lucky attitude.

ms notebook: Your review really means a lot, I'm so happy you see what I was going for. Even though this story is a what-if scenario I feel like in some ways certain aspects of their relationship happened in canon too, but unfortunately we just didn't get to see any of that because it's shonen. I really do think they fell in love slowly and learned to understand one another at a different pace even though they were married and did things sort of backwards, which is still kind of adorable in itself. Like you said, this what-if scenario lets me flesh out their characters and their relationship which I love doing.

leneypoo: Thank you! The adventures will start soon!

isha: Writing Goku has its challenges because I want him to stay naïve, but not dumb in any way, I'm happy you find some of these scenes funny! ^^ I'll definitely give you his perspective in chapter 6 and onward.

Reda: Thank you so much! I'm planning to go back after I'm finished and fix all those typos, maybe redraft some things too. I'm glad you like the characterization! I definitely borrow some phrases and actions from canon and the dub for accuracy and because I think a lot of that material is pretty adorable too haha

I'd also like to thank everyone who gave me their Gohan/Videl recs, they made me love this couple even more!


	5. Partner

A/N: Hey everyone! It's been awhile and I feel so bad about that especially with all the encouraging reviews I got from the last chapter. Not going to make excuses but life has sort of gotten in the way with school and work, I've also had some doctor visits but I'm feeling much better now so I hope this chapter makes up for it. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, faved, followed, and read!

* * *

 _Meeting in the Middle_

 _Chapter 5: Partner_

Chichi only reveled in her victory for a moment before she realized the concept of a girlfriend was not an easy one to explain. Something inside her thumped as she looked up to see Goku's perplexed expression patiently awaiting her answer.

"Well uh…it's like um…" She said clumsily trying not to avert her gaze from his questioning dark eyes. ' _I don't even know how to explain a simple word without being all embarrassed about it!'_ She cried internally.

Taking Bulma's words to heart Chichi sighed and stood up strong. As a princess she had the luxury of being taught many things yet none of which equipped her with the actual skill of teaching someone.

"Do you remember earlier when I was upset you said I was your girlfriend?" She asked in her most patient tone.

Goku nodded quickly. "Sure I remember, you're not still mad right? Is girlfriend a bad thing?"

Chichi shook her head, giving him an earnest smile. "No Goku, you didn't know any better so it's alright. It's not a bad thing, but it's a very intimate word friends don't share with each other."

"Why does the word have 'friend' in it when they aren't friends? That's really confusing you know!" He whined with a pout.

Sighing, she pinched the bridge of her nose. "I know, but it's not that hard to figure out. Everyone has different relationships with each other. Your relationship with your grandpa is different from your relationship with Master Roshi even though they're both older men that taught you martial arts, right?"

Goku bit his lip thoughtfully for a moment. "Yeah I guess so. So a girlfriend is different from a friend. But why?"

This was the hard part. Gathering up what Chichi recently learned about Goku and his friends she recalled his knowledge or lack thereof on romance he'd seen firsthand.

"I'm sure you noticed Bulma treats you differently from Yamcha, right?" She asked with a leading manner.

He shrugged. "I guess, I never really noticed. She yells at him a lot more, do girlfriends do that?"

Stifling a laugh Chichi shook her head. "Not always, but if you noticed she probably acted differently, held hands or hugged?"

"Mmm…" He pondered, gazing up. "Yeah sometimes. So girlfriends do that stuff?"

"Things like that, physical contact, but it's also more than that." She added with a hint of a blush forming on her cheeks. "It's someone who you can share lots of things with, be close to, and maybe one day it'll lead to marriage." She said, staring straight up into his curious black irises.

Instead of smiling back in understanding his nose scrunched sourly at the word. "Marriage, what's that?"

Chichi groaned in defeat. "Let's leave that for another day. But you understand what girlfriend means now, right?" She asked with reluctant hope.

Nodding back with his usual grin he pointed to her. "Yup! So you're my girlfriend!" He exclaimed.

"W-what? How did you get that idea?!" She screeched in horror, face hotter than an iron.

He backed off with a nervous smile, hands up defensively. "But everything you said reminds me of you! We share stuff like food and fighting techniques, you're always touching me even though it's weird, and I think we're close! So that means girlfriend, right?"

Not knowing how to respond Chichi stared at him with an awestruck expression, complete with open mouth. On the one hand she couldn't stop her heart from fluttering giddily at Goku's words, but on the obvious other hand she was frustrated he still couldn't grasp the concept properly.

Pulling herself together enough to string up some coherent words she blurted, "uh…that's more like uhh partners I'd say!"

"Partners?" Goku said slowly, mulling over the word in thought.

Fortunately or unfortunately for Chichi, Bulma decided to make her way over to the bumbling duo with a quirked smile. "What's got you two rattled?" She asked, but the knowing smirk made Chichi glare back at her obvious acting.

Goku, not catching any of their looks, stared back at Bulma wide-eyed. "Chichi was just telling me-"

"J-just telling Goku I wonder when dinner is!" Chichi interrupted with a high-pitched squeak.

Catching the anxious tone Bulma took pity on the poor girl and let it slide. Goku even ignored her lie at the prospect of more food and all three unanimously decided dinner was in order.

Dr. and Mrs. Briefs joined the trio as dinner arrived and of course with a guest like Goku there was a varied and grand spread of food set before them. Chichi could hardly believe her eyes at the portions put on the table and the amount Goku consumed never ceased to amaze her.

"I see you're impressed by Goku's appetite, Miss Chichi." Dr. Briefs observed casually while smoking his cigarette.

Chichi replied with a nervous laugh, not knowing exactly how to say she wasn't so much impressed, but rather borderline shell-shocked.

Bulma scoffed as she stirred her rice. "It never gets old, trust me."

"I find it fascinating. Not just his eating habits, but his quickly excelling strength and his resilience in harsh conditions. Have you ever had a physical, Goku?" Dr. Briefs questioned, looking at the young man across from him.

Goku gazed up momentarily from his meal to shrug, his cheeks full to the brim with food. Mrs. Briefs giggled while Bulma and Chichi blanched at the uncomely display.

"He's probably never seen a doctor in his life, Dad. And no I don't want you experimenting or studying my friend for science." The blue haired beauty stated with a scowl, pointing her fork at him.

Dr. Briefs merely brushed off her dark look with a chuckle. "Of course not, Dear! Goku is just so extraordinary, we humans can learn a lot from him."

Chichi stiffened as she peered up from her meal to the older man. "What…exactly do you mean by that?" She asked with a confused frown.

He laughed good-naturedly as he pet the small black cat on his shoulder. "Well of course I just mean we as humans are curious creatures and want to learn from one another! What else could I mean, miss?" He asked in a tone lengthened by a sweet note of humor.

Chichi shook her head quickly and went back to picking at the food on her plate. "Nothing. Just a silly thought went through my head." She mumbled feeling rather sheepish.

She wasn't sure what to make of Dr. Briefs' explanation or his curiosity with Goku, but she quickly put aside the odd feeling as Goku finally sat back in his chair and let out a loud belch.

"Man that was good!" He exclaimed, rubbing his expanded belly and letting out a yawn. "Eating really makes me sleepy."

Bulma sighed and stood up. "Well I have to get back to work, but you two can go rest in your rooms."

Goku obliged right away and hoisted himself up groggily. Chichi suspected his yawn was contagious as a sudden tiredness came over her as well.

"I'll see you both in the morning, bright and early!" Bulma instructed and set off along with her parents in tow as the robots took care of cleaning the entire dining room and kitchen.

Chichi and Goku quickly retreated to the guest suites where Goku already had a steady room made up for himself.

"Goodnight, Goku." She called out politely as the young man made his way down the hall in a dazed manner.

He turned back to her with a smile albeit smaller than his familiar exuberant one. For some reason she couldn't fathom his unusual meekness made her cheeks glow with warm. Returning the smile awkwardly Chichi ducked into her room quickly and without a peep.

* * *

 _The next morning_

Not so true to her word Bulma was late greeting Goku and Chichi in the morning. She groaned at them sullenly in her flouncy nightgown as she shuffled into the kitchen to make herself coffee.

Chichi was quick to note that Goku was an early riser with a pep in his step much like herself. As soon as the sun rose Chichi ventured outside to the training area to do her routine stretches. Already there and working up a sweat Goku greeted her with a bubbly cheer and went right back to his workout.

They both did their own routines without a word for some time. Chichi attempted to empty her mind from any distractions, but found her eyes flickering over ever so subtly to the man a few feet away from her. He had long since unshed his wet top went into a set of vigorous push-ups.

Chichi huffed at herself in frustration. _'It's almost like he's doing this on purpose. But it can't be! Goku's the most innocent person I know.'_ She inwardly groaned. _'And that's what makes this so unfair!'_

After their quiet and rigorous workout Goku sighed happily, clapping Chichi over the shoulder. "You did great Chichi! I never worked out so hard in the mornings before!"

She gave him an odd look, but was secretly pleased at his hand resting so close to her neck. "We didn't even workout together, how did I help?"

Goku arched his brow and scratched the back of his head. "Hmm…I'm not sure. I guess with you just bein' there I wanted to push myself harder, I don't know why."

Sending him a flustered smile Chichi walked on ahead to hide her growing blush. _'Was he trying to show-off? For me?'_ She asked herself. It was both frustrating and endearing how Goku wasn't even aware of his actions.

Once inside they went their separate ways to shower and met back up in the kitchen to have breakfast. After Bulma took her first two sips of coffee she perked up almost immediately and handed the dragon radar and a capsule of Yamcha's belongings over to Goku.

"Here you go!" She chirped and turned to Chichi with a compact carrying case. "I also figure you'd like some handy capsules. I know Goku is used to sleeping just about anywhere, but us girls have some standards. There's a house, boat, motorcycle, car, and some other stuff to help you out."

Chichi squealed in delight and gladly accepted the offering. "This is so thoughtful. How can I thank you?"

Bulma shrugged as she sent her a sly smile. "Well if you happen to come across any handsome princes on your journey maybe you can send some my way?" She asked with a giggle.

Not sure if she was joking or not Chichi laughed along with her.

Their goodbyes were brisk as Goku gave Bulma and her parents a sort of wave salute and called out for Nimbus. Having a princess mentality Chichi bowed twice as hard to make amends for his rudeness though she sensed their hosts didn't seem to mind at all.

Sometime later the duo was riding off over the ocean as they settled in a sitting position with Goku cross-legged and Chichi crouched uncomfortably behind him.

"Goku, can I sit in front? I feel too close to the edge." She said unsteadily, trying to squeeze as close as she could to Goku's back and not look down at the vast water.

Stopping Nimbus with a pat Goku turned to the teenage girl. "Sure I guess." He answered blankly as he grabbed her arm to pull her in front.

Her heart jumped unexpectedly as Goku adjusted the seating for them and without a word widened his legs to make room for her to sit on his lap. Chichi felt an electric surge of energy course through her as she fought the urge to shriek and jump off of his warm and solid body. Instead, she bit her tongue and allowed him to her pull flush against his muscular front.

"This isn't what I had in mind." Chichi grounded out unevenly. _'I'm sitting right on his- nooo! How can I think about that?!"_ She screeched in her mind, trying to banish any and all dirty thoughts.

"I couldn't think of anything better." He said in such a casual manner that made Chichi almost want to scream at his carefree attitude.

Deciding to drop the issue with a heavy sigh, Chichi rested her back completely on the fool's hard chest as Nimbus guided them to Kame House. With any other man she knew this would be the most romantic experience she ever had, but with Goku it was just another adventure unraveling. While in some respects it bothered her she admitted it was nice knowing he had no ulterior motives in having her in such an intimate position; there was almost an attractive quality about his good natured innocence that she couldn't put her finger on.

She turned back to get a quick glimpse at the man practically breathing down her neck and saw him looking out towards the wide ocean. Sensing her eyes on him he looked at her questioningly then smiled. "Almost there, don't worry!" He said, believing that she was just anxious to see Master Roshi.

With a little struggle she managed to smile as she turned to face forwards and saw a small speck standing against the water. "I see it!" She pointed out cheerfully.

She could feel Goku nodding behind her as Nimbus soared even faster across the sky.

Not much longer a tiny pristine island came into view with an equally small house sitting on top it. She could easily make out the words Kame House on the side and two people on the beach, one sitting on a lawn chair and the other standing and waving up at the sky.

As they landed a bald monk in the same gi as Goku came to greet them. The short fellow with an eager smile dashed directly towards Goku too excited to notice the woman scrabbling down from the yellow cloud behind him. "Goku! I didn't expect a visit from you so soon!"

Chichi instantly put a name to the face as Goku's dearest friend, Krillin. She smiled sweetly at their interaction and let them have their moment before introducing herself.

Krillin's eyes however met hers for a brief moment before doing a double take and staring with his mouth gapping open. "Is _she_ with you?" He squeaked to Goku in disbelief.

Before she could chime in an odd unpleasant feeling slid over her backside. Gasping in horror she jerked around to see an elderly man in sunglasses bending down and staring up at her red-handed.

"S-sorry miss! I was falling over and you just happen to cushion my fall!" He laughed with a nervous twinge and righted himself.

Chichi instantly recognized the man and all suspicion brushed away. "Master Roshi!" She exclaimed, bowing politely, "It's an honor to meet you, my name is Chichi, the Ox King's daughter!"

His laugh dissipated as he nodded at her sagely. "I heard he had a daughter though I never imagine meeting you," then looked at her wolfishly, "and I never imagined you'd be such a beaut! Chichi, what a great name hehe!" He piped up hungrily, casting his eyes up and down her body.

Fighting the instinct to the slap the old man across the face Chichi huffed absolutely scandalized. _'Is this really the man who taught my father and Goku?!'_ She asked herself in disbelief. Bulma's words about perverts suddenly came back to her and she balked at her naivety. Her father nor Goku mentioned such perversions, but both were men and it never affected them personally. _'Never mind that he's a martial arts master, a pervert is a pervert and I'll treat him like any other if he gets any closer!'_ she thought resolutely as she crossed her arms protectively over her chest.

Krillin lifted the heavy silence with a nervous laugh of his own. She turned to see him staring as well, but with an awestruck expression. "Uh wow, the Ox King's daughter, huh?" He questioned now shifting his gaze back and forth between Goku and Chichi.

Goku nodded happily, clueless to Krillin's insinuation. "We met the other day and now we're lookin' for the dragon balls!" He exclaimed.

The shorter man went up to shake her hand as he shot Goku a miffed look much to Chichi's surprise. "The name's Krillin. It's nice to meet you."

"Goku told me all about you. It's an honor." She stated truthfully though she was growing more skeptical of Goku's choice of company the longer she was in it.

Krillin's cheeks dusted red as he scratched the back of his head bashfully, "Oh uh honor's all mine!"

Goku turned to Master Roshi and greeted him with a chipper smile, oblivious to the leering looks he sent Chichi's way. "Hey Master Roshi! Have you seen Yamcha around?"

"Huh?" He asked, prying his eyes away from the disgruntled woman. "Oh, he went back on land to get some supplies. He's been staying here since his fight with Bulma."

"Yeah, Bulma sent us to bring him his stuff. She's really mad at him for being dumb or something." Goku stated bluntly. Chichi gawked at his crassness though she wouldn't expect Goku of all people to be sensitive about such things.

Krillin snorted, elbowing Goku's side slyly with a wink, "Tch who would figure you'd be the only doing so well with the ladies, huh?"

Chichi rested her hands on her hips having about enough of these men and their dirty implications. "Excuse me, what are you implying?" She snarled.

The monk edged away nervously. "Ehehe…I didn't mean anything by it I swear!"

Feeling a little vindicated Chichi gave a firm nod. "Good!" She said then turned her sights on the ogling old man who made his way even closer to her, "And you! Keep your dirty eyes and hands to yourself!" She yelled angrily no longer caring about showing any etiquette.

Goku remained surprisingly lax as she gave his martial arts master and best friend a vehement tongue-lashing as if it were an everyday occurrence for him. Chichi was grateful he didn't defend either of them and was about to give both bumbling men a lecture on how to treat women when a small plane made it's a way onto the shore.

A man a few inches taller than Goku with wild dark hair and a scar on his cheek hopped out with a number of bags in hand.

He waved to them avidly, not sensing any of the building tension, "Goku! Hey man it's nice to see you!" He shouted as his eyes scoured over the group and quickly landed on Chichi, "Woah, who's the babe?" He whistled without a second thought.

Letting that be the last straw Chichi screeched in disbelief at all the men on the island and stomped away into Kame House. In the rational recesses of her mind Chichi knew it was beyond rude to just scream and invite herself into someone else's home, but at the time it was a better option than punching the daylights out of all of them for their perverted rudeness. _'How can Goku associate with such delinquents?!'_ She thought furiously.

Slamming the door behind her with a resonating bang she shut her eyes unaware of the pig and floating cat staring at her in shock from the cozy living room.

"Who is _she_?" She could hear the newcomer squeaking incredulously from outside. Assuming he was Yamcha, Chichi nodded strongly at Bulma's decision to kick him to the curb.

Goku's melodic laugh filtered into the small abode and almost dissipated her sour mood completely. Feeling that familiar tugging at her heart she placed her ear on the door. "I think she's my partner." She heard him chirp simply.

Blanking on what to think or say she hadn't heard his companions' reactions as she slid down the doorframe with a hot blush staining her cheeks. Today was not what she had in mind at all.

* * *

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I guess Chichi and the rest of the gang didn't get off to such a good start, but first impressions aren't always lasting hehe...Next chapter I'll be changing perspective from Chichi to Goku, which will definitely be a bit of a test for me and I hope I can keep it in character…

Something I added in this chapter is Dr. Briefs' curiosity with Goku. It's sort of a headcanon of mine. I mean the guy is super intelligent, but also really nonchalant about it, I wouldn't be surprised if he knew or suspected Goku was an alien all along and if you take Jaco into account he was already in contact with aliens way before Goku.

Also is anyone else still watching DBS? I like it for the most part though I think I prefer BoG, maybe their version of RoF will be better? Who knows!


	6. Understanding

A/N: sorry for the long wait!

* * *

 _Meeting in the Middle_

 _Chapter 6: Understanding_

Goku wasn't one to overthink things, especially when his gut was telling him something. It was his gut feeling that made him leave the only life he knew to go with Bulma in the first place and become a martial artist. Now, because of this same gut feeling he was standing outside of Kame House waiting for Chichi to cool down after her angry bout. He supposed if he wasn't out here waiting he could be training or finding another fighter to challenge. All things considered he didn't think in what-ifs, and his gut felt content staying put for once instead of its usual yearning to set off and look for adventure.

"You there Goku?" Krillin questioned as he snapped his fingers and yanked Goku from his private musing. "Sometimes I wonder what goes on in that head of yours!"

Goku blinked. "Uh yeah, whaddya say?" He asked, staring wide-eyed at his two friends.

Shaking his head in defeat his best friend asked, "that girl's your partner? What's the deal?"

Yamcha nodded. "Yeah, what's going on? She completely lost it when I got here!"

The shorter man scoffed. "Well you practically pulled a Master Roshi on her, 'who's the babe', _really_? Bulma and Launch would have decked you for that."

"I kind of get dumb when I'm around pretty girls…or just girls in general. I wish I had an off-switch." Yamcha admitted with a moping tone, a light blush sweeping over his face in embarrassment as he twiddled his fingers.

Goku watched as his friends went on their own tangent about the opposite sex. Usually when he didn't understand something and had no interest in it, like women, their comments would flow in and out of his head without a second thought. He'd come to accept this a little after being exposed to people and realizing how small his scope was of the world. He would never be able to comprehend technology like Bulma, or women like his male friends.

Even though he had no interest in such things his friends' perception and scrutiny of women never ceased to amaze him. They could tell the difference between women by their appearance; some they called pretty, some were ugly. To Goku, he supposed it was like being able to tell if another fighter possessed strength or weakness by their appearance, but he also knew appearances could be deceiving. So how could his friends tell the difference by how women looked on the outside? Maybe some looked ugly, but inside they were pretty. He vaguely wondered if they ever considered the possibility.

"Is Chichi pretty?" He wondered out loud to no one in particular.

Both men jolted at the question and looked at Goku like he'd grown a second head.

After a long pause Krillin chuckled in amazement. "I never expected _you_ would care about that stuff."

"So is she?" He asked again bluntly.

The two other fighters looked at one another, before nodding slowly. "Well yeah, you can't tell?" Yamcha asked.

Goku shrugged. "How?"

Krillin shook his head at his naïve friend with a knowing smirk. "You just have to look at her. I mean you can't tell me you look at her and see nothing you like!"

What he liked? Did he like what he saw? He reflected on it, picturing Chichi flying beside him on Nimbus, taking him on in a fight, and showing her fiery attitude in front of his friends. He liked that; he felt it in his gut.

Before he could tell his friends his revelation a scream came from inside the Kame House.

"YOU PERVERTS!" He could hear Chichi screech at the top of her lungs as Master Roshi and Oolong plummeted out the front door.

Krillin and Yamcha yelped in alarm as Chichi charged out of the house with a seething glare and her fists raised high in the air.

"You're going to pay for even thinking about touching me!" She shouted, eyes ablaze with a look that told both of her victims she wasn't done with them yet. Faster than even Krillin or Yamcha could follow she began to chase them up and down the small beach.

The bald monk shrugged and chuckled in his nervous way. "Well I guess she's acquainted with everyone now."

"Yeah, but did you see how she threw them both through the door?! That's some strength right there!" Yamcha exclaimed wearily, eyes still on the three runners.

Goku couldn't agree more and nodded in excitement. "She's a great fighter!" He praised. "I trained with her a bit earlier and even though she's not as strong as me it was fun!" He said all in one breath.

Krillin eyed Goku knowingly. "Oh now I see." He drawled.

"See what?" Goku asked, turning around to see if there was anything behind him.

"Oh nothing. Just for a second there I thought you started getting interested in girls, but I guess you just like having another sparring partner around." His shorter friend stated with a dismissive wave of his hand.

Yamcha nodded at that. "Yeah, I knew it was too good to be true. Let's go inside, it's getting hot out here and those three will probably be at it for a while." He said gesturing to the violent chase. Taking the broken door off its hinges he lead them inside the cool house.

Goku didn't really now what to think of Krillin and Yamcha's words. Why were they so put off when he praised Chichi's fighting? He knew they both loved to fight, not to the extent that he did, but enough to get somewhat excited about a new sparring partner. There was also a strange bubbling feeling inside as he thought more about it. Of course he relished in the idea of a new sparring partner, but that wasn't all Chichi was to him.

Looking across the small white beach he easily spotted her catching up to his perverted master and his pig friend. She moved in a vicious and agile fashion not even Goku could replicate with his more bulky frame. A small smile graced his lips as he studied her movements; Krillin and Yamcha could think whatever they wanted, it was just something he couldn't form into words.

After Chichi was done with what she deemed justified punishment the group sat around the living room table and caught up with one another briefly. Goku sat cross-legged next to Chichi, as he was the only one brave enough to do so, and across from his two friends and Puar.

"Heck Goku, I almost thought it would be another three years from now before I saw you again." Krillin stated with a laugh.

The younger man shrugged, "Yeah, I was planning to go on another journey around the world and get stronger just in case Piccolo wanted another fight, but then I met Chichi." He said, looking over to his new comrade with a wide grin.

She smiled back briefly only to frown a moment later. "You're still planning on doing that Goku, as much as I hate the idea." She scoffed, folding her arms.

"Aw Chi! I can't help it if Piccolo wants another fight! I can't let him take over the world!" Goku whined as he leaned in closer to her as she recoiled.

"As if that's the only reason why you'd fight him again, even though you almost got yourself killed!" She shouted.

Krillin and Yamcha sweat dropped at sight of their friend trying to placate the woman with slits for eyes and snarling lips. Judging by how familiar they were around one another it was hard to imagine they only knew each other for days instead of years.

"Well I guess you know all about Goku's obsession with fighting. You can't help, but get used to it." Yamcha chuckled, scratching the back of his head.

Chichi rolled her eyes. "It wasn't hard to figure out, _but_ it doesn't mean I have to get used to it or put up with it." She said with a firm tone.

Goku merely laughed it off while his friends shared a concerned look, but said nothing.

They sat talking for some time, Krillin and Goku shared in most of the reminiscing, while Master Roshi and Oolong offered the group food as a sort of peace offering to Chichi. She accepted and even offered to help which made Goku drool with excitement as he watched her go into the kitchen.

"Man Goku you really got yourself in a fix with her." He heard Krillin murmur lightly. Both his friends were hunched close together staring at the kitchen uneasily.

"What'cha mean?" He asked. Sometimes his friends' phrases made no sense to him and usually he just ignored it because it would annoy them to have to explain, but he knew it was something about Chichi and he felt his interest pique unexpectedly.

"You don't really know this girl all that well Goku and she doesn't seem happy with you fighting, doesn't that bother you?" Yamcha asked.

Krillin nodded. "Yeah, it's like she wants to change you or something."

Goku stared at two blankly for a moment trying to process their words only to be more confused than ever. "But Chichi loves to fight. We trained together and everythin', why do you guys think that?"

His friends shared a frustrated look only to be interrupted by Turtle carrying a bowl of food on his shell and Oolong with a stack of plates. Lunch was being served and their conversation was put on a momentary halt, but that didn't stop Goku from thinking over what was said.

So lost in thought he didn't catch Chichi smile as she placed a large plate food in front of him. "I can't believe I'm sayin' this, but don't let the food go to waste Goku!" She exclaimed.

Shaking the unresolved questions out of his head he sent her a disarming grin and dug in quickly. Chichi's cooking skills were evident as the group sat in silence, too in engrossed in their meals to make conversation. Goku, of course beat all his friends as the biggest eater and mess-maker much to Chichi's chagrin. As cook she also offered to help clean up which gave Krillin and Yamcha a chance to quickly steal Goku away.

Once outside Goku began stretching. "How 'bout a spar?" He asked, squatting his legs back and forth.

"Uh Goku we weren't done talking about your problem with Chichi." The bald monk said with a raised brow.

Goku shrugged while stretching his arms over his head. "I already told you guys you got it all wrong. Chichi loves fightin', you'll see when she comes out here and I ask her to train."

Almost on cue Chichi propped open the door and stepped outside. "So this is where you guys are, enjoying the ocean breeze?"

Goku perked up as soon as he saw her. "You wanna train, Chichi?" He asked enthusiastically.

Chichi sighed and her face soured. "No way, especially not after a big meal like that. Most fighters don't eat a lot before a fight Goku, it's just common sense." She chided.

"She's got a point." Master Roshi said offhandedly as he stepped outside, already heading towards his lawn chair with a magazine in hand.

Goku pouted at her refusal. Maybe his friends weren't so wrong about Chichi. He always had trouble understanding women whereas they both prided themselves on their expertise, maybe they saw something in Chichi he couldn't even though he spent the most time with her. That odd feeling in his stomach shot up again at the thought.

"By the way." Chichi spoke up, breaking the silence as she eyed the scar-faced fighter. "Goku and I actually came to give you something Yamcha." She said as she pulled a capsule out of her pocket and threw it to him.

He caught it instinctively and stared at it in frustrated disbelief. "Not again…" He complained with a groan.

"What's that?" Krillin prodded with a smirk; trying to get a better look at the capsule.

"Damn it Bulma! I uh…I better go call her!" He exclaimed in panic, running towards the house.

Krillin snorted and followed hot on his heels. "I gotta hear this!"

Almost as soon as the door slammed behind him both Goku and Chichi could hear Master Roshi cackling from his chair at his student's misfortune, even Chichi couldn't help but join in.

"What's so funny?" Goku asked, for once wanting to be in on the joke.

"No offense, but your friends don't know much about women." Chichi giggled, covering her mouth with both hands.

Now Goku was sure he didn't understand at all. "Wha-? Really? But they always talk about how they know everythin' about 'em!"

His statement only made his teacher laugh harder, almost falling from his chair in hysterics. Chichi rolled her eyes, a reaction he noticed she often made when she was about to give him a lesson in social ethics.

With her hands now on her hips he was more than ready for her lecturing to commence only for her to let out a sigh and drop her arms as she turned back to the house. "You're gullible sometimes. I better go back inside and finish cleaning."

Feeling unsettled he called out to her. "Wait Chichi! What do you mean 'bout that?"

She waved him off, opening the front door and gliding inside. "Don't worry about it Goku, it's not stuff that'd interest you."

With that she was gone and Goku was left standing on the beach still dumbfounded and somehow troubled.

 _That Night_

While Kame House already had more than a few extra guests Master Roshi graciously allowed the two to stay the night with a personal invitation just for Chichi to share his bed, apparently it had the softest mattress in the house, or so he said. The young woman of course put him in his place quite forcefully and instead opted to use her sleeping bag in the living room next to Goku and Krillin.

"I better head off to bed, I have an early day tomorrow." Yamcha said, breezing up the stairs and giving the group a short wave.

Krillin said goodnight and slyly turned to Chichi and Goku as soon as Yamcha's door was closed. "We all know where he's running to tomorrow with his tail between his legs, right? Can he be anymore whipped?" He snickered.

Goku said nothing as he thought how hard it would be to walk with his tail between his legs and wondered if that would've made for good training. Chichi on the other hand shook her head in annoyance. "Typical male." She said glaring at the short monk. "There's nothing wrong with apologizing!"

The young martial artist watched as his bald friend nervously excused himself to use the bathroom as if that would deter Chichi's ire; she just snorted and went to get her sleeping bag.

"Goku, Bulma gave us a capsule with another sleeping bag, it's much better than just sleeping on the floor." She said, looking through her belongings to get it for him.

He nodded briskly and walked towards the front door. "I'm gonna go outside for some trainin'."

"But it's late! You're not pulling this stunt again!" She shouted getting up from the floor, ready to march up to him.

He waved her off in his usual carefree way and stepped outside quicker than she could reach him. He didn't see her face as he closed the door, but he could practically hear her teeth grinding together in anger. "If you're still out there by midnight I'm kicking you into the ocean!" She screeched, but to his surprise said nothing more.

Goku rarely thought of keeping track of the time during his training since he never had to worry about a curfew since his grandpa died. While Grandpa Gohan was a lenient man he had a strict curfew set in place and although Goku dutifully followed his grandpa's rules there were occasions he lost track of time and stayed out later than usual. One such time was the night of his grandpa's demise to the giant monster. Since then he listened to his gut more when there were nights that felt ominous and went to straight to bed without a second thought.

However, tonight and the nights before were pleasant for training. The moon was a luminous crescent shape in the sky and the stars were gleaming more than ever. He lost himself to his training in those moments, and while he didn't blast kamehamehas into the ocean in curtsey of everyone sleeping, he still pushed himself to exertion for hours on end.

Hours later Goku heard the front door creak open and a fuming young woman approach on the other side of it.

"I knew you'd still be out." She hissed as she stomped up to him.

Seeing Chichi again brought back everything he had forgotten about today and that odd unpleasant feeling came back.

"Hey Chichi, I haven't trained all day y'know!" He replied, but grew sheepish as soon as he caught her fierce stare. Trying to avoid eye contact he looked down and noticed her clothing for the first time. She wore a simple cotton nightgown and while it sensibly covered her frame it still alluded to the shape of her supple body. It was nothing like what the women in Master Roshi's magazines wore or even on par with some of Bulma's outfits, but its soft sheerness took Goku off-guard for a moment.

Her tsking brought back his attention to her face and he resisted the urge to poke her puffed out cheeks as he sent her a disarming smile. "Time got away from me, sorry."

She huffed. "I wanted to leave early tomorrow, but I stayed up waitin' for you. Now how am I going to wake up at sunrise?"

"Awe, you didn't have to stay up, I would've gone to bed eventually!" He exclaimed only for Chichi to slam her hand down on his mouth. He could feel her thin fingers pressed against his lips closely. "Stop being so loud." She hissed quietly.

Goku sent her an impish look with his eyes and did the first thing that popped into his head; he playfully licked her palm. She shrieked in horror, cheeks tinged pink, and quickly retracted her hand.

"Goku!"

"Now who's the loud one?" He snickered.

Her darkening expression noticeably simmered as he gave her his innocent grin. He was finding a new niche for himself in pushing her buttons; it was so easy to create a furious reaction in her, but it was just as easy to tame it with a simple smile.

She huffed offhandedly and wiped her hand on the front of her nightgown. "Honestly Goku, you can be so immature."

His smile faltered at her words and he turned to look at the waves. Something about what she said didn't sit right with him; just like all of today didn't feel right to him.

He sensed her confusion without her gazing in her direction.

"I don't think I've seen that look on your face before. Is something bothering you?" She asked, and he could hear the concern laced in her voice. She closed in on him slowly and he finally turned to her.

"Maybe." He answered finally. "I don't know what it is."

Chichi looked thoughtful for a moment, then guilty. "Was it because I called you immature? Sometimes I just say things, don't take it personally." She said with a hint of embarrassment.

Goku shook his head. "It ain't really that. I know you don't say it to be mean or anything."

"Then what is it?"

"All day it felt like I didn't understand anything that Krillin, Yamcha, and you were sayin'. It was like a big inside joke no one wanted to tell me." There he said it, he put it into words somehow and yet he wasn't sure if Chichi would understand, hell he really didn't understand what he saying. He felt so strange, almost not himself, talking about something that would otherwise seem so trivial to him.

Chichi placed a comforting hand on his arm, "I'm sorry I made you feel like that. What were Krillin and Yamcha talking about?"

"Women." He answered bluntly.

Chichi averted her gaze briefly, "O-oh." She said faltering. "I didn't think you were interested in that kind of talk."

"Yeah, I don't care about that stuff. When it's some woman I don't know, why does it matter? But a lot of it was about you, and I guess that made me want to understand."

Her eyes widened considerably, and for a moment Goku thought he had said something wrong as she took a step back. Instead, a slow smile crept on her face, "You want to understand for me?" She asked in what sounded like disbelief.

Goku's eyebrow arched in bewilderment at her surprise. "Well yeah!" He exclaimed. "You're not just some random lady my friends are talking 'bout, you're my friend too."

Giggling, she rolled her eyes. "You really have a way with words Son Goku."

"Thanks!" He piped up proudly.

"But what exactly were your friends saying about me?"

"It's not a big deal!" Goku said, waving his hands back and forth anxiously. He didn't like what his friends said, but he didn't want any bodily harm to come to either of them.

"I know, don't worry I promise I won't go after them." She said with a chuckle and then thought for a moment and her face turned sour. "Well as long as it's not perverted."

While still apprehensive Goku was satisfied with that promise and decided it was best just to say it. Maybe Chichi would clear up his confusion and he could finally go back to being himself after today.

"They said just that I only like you around for fightin' and you hate it and want to change me. It really confused me, I thought they were so good at understanding women it made me feel kind of bad they knew you better than I did just 'cause I don't really care about that stuff."

They were both silent for a moment. He studied Chichi's face and noticed the slight crease in her forehead meant she was thinking hard about what he said.

Not a second later her head shot up and she smiled up at him. "You just said we're friends, right Goku?"

He nodded, dumbfounded.

"Then that first part is definitely not true." She chirped happily. "Maybe your friends don't see it yet, but we do and that's all that matters. As for the other things I just want to say I worry about you. I know you're the best fighter on Earth, but I still hate that you'll throw your life away for a good fight. I don't want to get used to the idea; maybe one day when I get to know you better I'll accept it, but you'll have to accept that I'll always hate it." She said firmly.

Goku smiled in relief at her words. It had all been a misunderstanding, something not even his friends were right about.

"I guess I already accept it 'cause it means you care." He said with reprieve in his voice.

She smiled back, her black eyes glimmering from the reflection of the moon. "Your friends aren't the only ones that know everything, what they were saying bothered you, didn't it?"

"Yeah." He nodded, looking down at his stomach, "I had this gut feeling it was wrong, but they always were better at this stuff than me."

"It's good to get advice Goku, but it's also good to listen to your gut." She giggled and patted his stomach.

"Thanks Chichi. So uh…Yamcha and Krillin really don't know anything about women, do they?" He asked bluntly.

She chuckled darkly and wagged her finger. "Let's just say if they keep getting love advice from that deviant master of yours instead of their gut they'll both end up hermits too."

Goku supposed he'd leave it at that as fatigue finally set in over his body. "Wanna go to sleep?"

"Sure." Chichi answered, then turned towards the house as she said, "thank you by the way."

"For what?" He asked as he caught up to her.

She shrugged and smiled softly as she met his questioning gaze. "It's just nice seeing you want to understand things for my sake."

Goku could only think to smile back, but he knew that was enough.

* * *

A/N: Hopefully this chapter was satisfying enough, not much happened besides what I hope came off as character and friendship growth. The next chapter will definitely be moving forward narratively.

I also want to apologize again for the long wait. I always intended to continue the story, unfortunately harsh reality and some writer's block got in the way, but since I've been MIA I've gotten reviews and even messages that have all been very encouraging. I also wanted to bring in more to the GoChi community, I'll always love this pairing and both the characters so much and I want to give more to it. So instead of writing a huge essay on why Goku and Chichi are amazing and great together (I totally could do that btw) I'll just continue to write this and I also have an AU one-shot in mind.

Thank you for reading!


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